Paris Day Four: The Power of Randomness

PARIS — In a highly curated age, there was power in the sense of randomness which ran through the collections on the fourth day of Paris Fashion Week.

Rick Owens is never haphazard: there is a weird and wonderful sense of control that rules his world. And yet today, in the underbelly of the Palais de Tokyo, the phalanxes of models that walked the runway last season gave way to a stream of individuals, from fringed cowgirls to self-possessed sorceresses, each one different, each one with their own take on Owens’ code.

As with the men’s collection he showed in January, the designer was ruminating on the history of his namesake label. It was twenty-two years ago when the brand began producing in Italy, in Concordia sulla Secchia. And the collection, called “Concordians,” was meant as a tribute to the diverse tribe that has surrounded and supported Owens over the years.

This introspection led to a new sense of rawness and variety. As the silhouette became solemnly vertical, it was as if Owens traded a degree of aesthetic control for a heightened sense of otherness and imperfection. It was a lyrical moment that felt powerful and authentic.

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“Uncurated” was the adjective used by Chemena Kamali to describe the way a woman’s wardrobe is really built, as she goes through phases and accumulates pieces. And that was the spontaneous energy and eclectic spirit she wanted to tap with her latest outing for Chloé.

A new designer’s third show is always crucial: it’s when their vision for a brand settles into something that resonates — or not. Although rooted in remixing, Kamali’s Chloé is convincing. As a woman, she has a natural understanding of the psychology of dressing, and a belief in intuition that means creating pieces that work whichever way they are thrown together.

For today’s outing, Kamali broke out of her comfort zone, going even more bohemian and eclectic than before with a mix of crinolines and slip dresses, Victorian and hippie. The look was layered to say the least, tainted with Rolling Stones groupie flavours, but it made for a Chloé that offered little hints of surprise within the formula.

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Daniel Roseberry is on a mission to carve out an identity for Schiaparelli’s ready-to-wear that is as distinctive as its couture. He’s been testing different directions, but has yet to settle on one. Today’s show began as a dialogue between the masculine and the feminine, opening with a series of suits and coats that had a charming, costume-y sense of strictness, and a certain elegance, with rodeo nods like Western belts. But it didn’t take long for things to take a tacky turn. Still, there was a sense of streamlining and cohesion to the collection.

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Over the last few seasons, Rabanne’s Julien Dossena has shown some signs of creative fatigue. Understandably so: the codes of the house — Space Age, metal, incongruous materials — are narrow, and after more than ten years as its creative director, the possibilities for fresh expression feel fewer. But with his latest outing, the designer was back to top form with a collection in which the futuristic shine was all hidden or protected inside or below a mantle of very bourgeois tweeds and furs. “I was interested in duality, and took most of the shapes from uniforms,” Dossena said. The military echoes gave the collection a certain rigidity, but the use of materials like plastic and sequins felt like a compelling expansion of the Rabanne code.

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Meanwhile, Uma Wang’s latest outing was a story of poise and formal abstraction, of nipped waists and humongous volumes, carried in a poetic way and with the Chinese designer’s unique knack for tactile fabrication. It was beautiful and touching, but it would be interesting, at some point, to see Wang break out of her oversized comfort zone to test other silhouettes.

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