The Leftovers: Paris Fashion Week SS11

There have been seasons in the past when, upon looking at the clothes, I was left confused about what temperatures the designers thought we would be experiencing in the months to come. Leather skirts for summer. Barely there dresses for winter. However, this season, which was filled with color, lightness and occasional whimsy, never caused that confusion to arise.

That was until Paris where the story being told was a somber one.

At Neil Barrett

At Ann Demeulemeester

At Chanel

At Rick Owens

At Yohji Yamamoto

At The Row

At Stella McCartney

At Balenciaga

At A.F. Vandervorst

At Alexander McQueen

At Martin Grant

At Louis Vuitton

At Haider Ackermann

At Lanvin

At Roland Mouret

At Hermès

The clothes resembled a storm’s approach. Warning you not to play outside. And in this instance, that foreboding seemed more appropriate somehow. A closer representation of the times if not of the season.

That darker thread could even be seen in the trends that held over from the previous cities.


The White

At Gareth Pugh

At Pedro Lourenço

At Paul & Joe

At Chloé

At Rick Owens

At Sharon Wauchob

The Transparency

At Lanvin

At Giambattista Valli

At Valentino

The Prints

At Carven

At Cacharel

At Chanel

At Akris

At Alexander McQueen

At Manish Arora

The Color

At Haider Ackermann

At Lanvin

At Nina Ricci

At Damir Doma

At Paul & Joe

At Haider Ackermann

At Roland Mouret

In the end, I found myself most drawn to London and Milan. There are times when color and prints and whimsy and air are more necessary than anything else.

There are times when they are essential.


Photos via