Mugler Autumn/Winter 2012-13, Paris Fashion Week

TWO Mugler angels took to the dark sports hall space this evening to begin the label’s show, one in which creative director Nicola Formichetti had wanted to return to the idea of the salon and had already broadcast pictures of it and its preparation across the internet in the week running up to the show – the idea being “fashion without frontiers”.
“I wanted to expand the idea of the salon, where people would be invited to drop by and discuss the collection with you,” he explained in the show notes. “I did not want it to be an elitist or secretive process,” he said, noting how he wanted people to “see the fun we have putting it together”.

Formichetti said he had taken inspiration from the idea of symmetry and graphic stylisation indicative of Asia, as well as looking to Thierry Mugler himself – the man who originally founded the house – and his 1997 Insects collection. And, with the models coming out two by two or just three and then a hoard of them, it was just as though we had uncovered a Mugler nest and these were the queen ants running the show.

Fringed and angular, it was less overt in the flesh and sexual stakes than his debut – in which Lady Gaga also took to the catwalk this time last year - and was more about the en-masse performance to enhance and convey this message of superhuman women.

Gareth Pugh Autumn/Winter 2012-13, Paris Fashion Week

GARETH PUGH  - The fashion show started with drama - grey leaves exploding from the ceiling out and down on to the ground to create the catwalk itself. And then out came the furry shaggy coats and dresses - the first all black and with a moon-like headpiece. Then, with each look, came transparent bands worn around the head and beneath them jostling fringing as dress ends or gripping shoulders.

There was, as ther will always be with Pugh, articulated leather in the mix - to sculpt jackets whose collars and lapels were accentuated and exaggerated. One leather lantern dress was particularly striking.
Pockets on later looks acted like restraints on the models - again, it's not Pugh without them - while collars on coats that had something of a bat about them worked like masks to obstruct the face.
And while Pugh's aesthetic is so distinct - and dark - you can see that it's one that has softened over the last few seasons and taken on board the need to be able to wear his designs if you want to be a part of his world.

Dries Van Noten Autumn/Winter 2012-13, Paris Fashion Week

The latest collection from Dries Van Noten, a magna print meditation and posh battlefield chic aesthetic that won the designer an enormous cheer in his show in Paris.

Dries has been very good lately at dipping into all sorts of different cultural inputs. Where his February men's collection was based on Dutch artist Gijs Frieling or his last women's show on photographs by young artist James Reeve, today he went in a completely opposite direction for fall 2012. The designer looked at classic Asian dress. He was even photographed in a Korean pink silk coat for a backstage TV interview, and went about deconstructing a pattern of print from the two dimensional into the three-dimensional. This meant that classic sleeves were aligned as print on the center of the body to give the collection a fresh spin and unexpected twist.

He also teamed up with Victoria & Albert Museum in London, tapping into their Oriental costume archives with brilliant results. Clearly, Van Noten always likes to balance his mighty inspirations with street wear and his military khakis grounded the colorful print party on his dresses and coats.