This is our unfiltered review of the first ever digital Paris Fashion Week. Here, stay up to date on all the top spring 2021 Paris Fashion Week shows.
For the first time in history, Paris Fashion week is going digital with the Spring 2021 shows. In summer 2020, we saw the first ever Paris couture shows go digital. Now, we get to see how the ready-to-wear designers are doing things.
It’s not surprising: due to the pandemic, fashion weeks worldwide are being cancelled and postponed. In lieu of live runway shows, brands are putting together digital content (mainly videos) to showcase their latest collections. As such, the majority of the Spring 2021 Paris Fashion Week collections are being presented as digital-only activations, except for a few brand such as Chanel, Coperni, Dior and a few others who are reportedly hosting in-person shows with limited audiences (and, of course, a digital component).
At Couture Week, we saw everything from 3D virtual models to advertorial-like videos that felt like commercials. Given that Paris Fashion Week is always the pinnacle of fashion month, with many of the top designers presenting as well as a host of the most in-demand emerging brands, it’ll be interesting to see how designers approach the new world of fashion shows during a pandemic.
I’m interested to see how labels can take these elements of the digital world and go forward with fashion week in a new and innovative way. For now, I don’t think doing strictly video is the right move. Come back daily to read our highlights from each day of Paris Fashion Week Spring 2021.
Here, some mini reviews of the standout shows of the Spring 2021 Paris Fashion Week Day 9.
Paris Fashion Week Spring 2021 Review: Chanel Spring 2021
Despite the pandemic, Chanel decided to have an in-person show complete with a towering Chanel sign inspired by the original Hollywood hills sign. Indulgent set aside, creative director Virginie Viard set her sights on the aesthetic concept of modern actresses.
Overall, the collection felt a lot more wearable than last season–sort of a compromise between the old guard of clients and the new. Less crop tops, tweed tube tops and hot pants, more tweed short suits, skinny jumpsuits and denim, with a few really spectacular gowns that had a 1920s meets 1940s vibe (feathers, drop waists, slouched shoulders). We also saw more pattern play and a colorful exploration of the Chanel logo and motifs (N. 5) for the first time from Viard which recalled the work of the late Karl Lagerfeld in some ways. There was an underwhelming amount of bags, but the ones we did see were mini-mini and felt slightly dated like Jacquemus from over a year ago. We’re betting more on the clothing and jewelry as investment pieces for the future, for now.
Paris Fashion Week Spring 2021 Review: Miu Miu Spring 2021
Miu Miu presented an intellectual solution to hosting a fashion show during the pandemic. But before we get into the format, it’s worth taking a very close look at the clothes. For one, much like Prada’s show earlier in the season, we saw Mrs. Prada approach the idea of uniform dressing, but from the Miu Miu girl perspective. Think: button-downs, patterned shorts and embellished blazers, or sporty takes on tracksuits in the form of skirts and little jackets, rendered in brown, yellow, rust, kelly green, navy, beige and mustard; colors that recall the Miu Miu shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s. There’s so much more we could say about this collection, but one thing that is immediately clear is that the hybrid low heeled sneakers in both neutrals and bright colors will be a definite must-have for the next season, even by those who aren’t Miu Miu freaks.
As for the venue, focusing on the cross between digital and physical, for its Spring 2021 virtual show, Miu Miu recreated an elliptical-shaped pink and white sports stadium complete with roaring cheers. AMO designed the space and seamlessly integrated the audience (friends of the brand who watched the show the day before on their computers) into the digital venue. The brand also launched an Instagram filter inspired by its show venue, so that viewers at home can see themselves in the digital show venue.
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