Fashion’s new look in Paris

The marathon of fashion shows ended this month in Paris and with it came the sense that the fashion industry was shaking off certain habits that had dominated it for the past decade, to the detriment of the business and consumers.

As soon as the curtain went up on the Marc Jacobs show in New York four weeks ago it was clear that designers were moving on at last from their blinkered obsession with youth. In his show Jacobs moved away from the grunge influences and teenage styles that he usually uses and instead presented full-length narrow skirts and blouses so ladylike they seemed to have come straight out of Jackie Onassis’s closet.
It has been a similar story throughout the month: hemlines now actually make it past the upper thighs to hit the knees, and dresses, particularly in the Chanel and Marni shows, were made for a woman’s shape as opposed to that of a flat-chested teenager, even if that is who designers still insist on getting to model the clothes.
“The shows have been much more grown up and polished this time,” said Anna Wintour, editor of US Vogue. She cited Marc Jacobs, Marni and Prada as particularly strong. Retailers were equally pleased. “Grown-up clothes are more appealing because customers need to be able to project themselves into them,” said Natalie Massenet of luxury fashion website net-a-porter.com.
Aside from the maturity of the clothes, the other big surprise was the almost total lack of accessories. Judging from the catwalks for next season, this obsession with the latest IT bags has reached saturation point. Even brands known for their handbags kept them to a discreet minimum and few were bigger than reasonable.
One might have thought that retailers would be less happy. For them the accessories explosion has been of enormous financial benefit because bags and shoes are much easier to sell than long gowns and are cheaper to stock because they don’t require space for changing rooms. Yet in Paris buyers unanimously expressed relief at this change, not least because of a sense of growing customer fatigue with it bags. “Accessories are a very important market for us but a woman only needs a couple of great bags and shoes,” said Natalie Massenet.
“We’re not worried about the fewer handbags because now we’re seeing things like hats and gloves on the catwalks, so it’s no longer just about bags,” agreed Anne Pitcher, buying and merchandising director for Selfridges, the British department store.
As the emphasis is back on the clothes, many of the collections featured clothes so complex they could almost be couture, particularly in the beautiful Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior collections.

By Hadley Freeman