Two fashion heavyweights looked back to the 1960s at Paris Fashion Week
At Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday, two prominent fashion brands drew inspiration from the 1960s. Christian Dior celebrated the groundbreaking "Miss Dior" line, while Saint Laurent crafted a collection around the transparent sheer garments favored by its founder. Transparent dresses, a popular trend among celebrities in recent times, were taken to new heights by Saint Laurent, employing materials described as "like mist" in the show notes.
Anthony Vaccarello, who has directed the French house since 2016, revisited one of Yves Saint Laurent's obsessions: "minimising the distance between fabric and skin".
Guests including Kate Moss and K-Pop megastar Jisoo were treated to waves of chiffon, lace and tulle, offering a more risque version of the luxury nightwear of recent seasons -- and impeccably timed to coincide with an exhibition entitled "Sheer" at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum.
Simon Longland, director of buying for London department store Harrods, described it as "bursting with juxtaposition"
"The silhouette, cut and styling was in large part ladylike and conservative in its femininity -- think pencil skirts, pussy blow blouses and delicate hosiery -- (but) delivered in fabrications that were mostly sheer and slinky," he said.
- 'Miss Dior' reborn -Earlier, a starry audience including Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman saw a very different ode to the past at Christian Dior.
Its collection was almost entirely monochrome and beige -- a heady mix of nouveau riche fantasy, from gabardine to the little white dress, via tweed and more urban denim and leopard-print styles.
It harked back to the launch of the "Miss Dior" line in 1968, when a daring new vision of femininity emerged for newly liberated women.
It was named after the founder's sister, Catherine Dior, a resistance hero who suffered a traumatic period in a Nazi concentration camp.
It's a story told in the current Apple TV series "The New Look", and the stars were present for Tuesday's show, including Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Christian Dior, and Maisie Williams, who plays Catherine.
