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Balenciaga AW 20/21

AUTUMN/WINTER 20/21

An apocalyptic fashion season sends up protective proportions and a backlash on the bourgeois

Words by Nelson Mui, Merchandising Director at Lane Crawford

Paris always has the final word on the season, and at Balenciaga, arguably the week’s most impactful show, those words were… post-apocalyptic.


Summoned to a darkened cinema studio on the outskirts of Paris, the fashion crowd, fresh from Coronavirus anxieties circulating in Milan, was kept in disorienting darkness. The lights came on to reveal the front rows submerged in water. A parade of monastic, black-clad models with extreme shoulders and power proportions swished across the flooded catwalk. At Thom Browne, they marched in pairs of reworked gender-neutral checks and tweeds, in a show themed “Noah’s Ark.”


Is fashion drowning? Perhaps.


The designers at the most directional collections channeled this angst into fantasies of escape, empowerment and art. At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello served up signature tailoring in brilliant fashion — perversely tarted up in bold hues and dominatrix latex leggings and pencil skirts. Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, mining the fault lines of class and race from his formative years in Bordeaux, reclaimed the ultimate totems of bourgeois privilege using a sexy, flashy 80s chic; with equestrian motifs, capes, and preppy-checks for all. Ourfavourite collection this season was from Loewe, for its pioneering, unfamiliar new silhouettes, with Jonathan Anderson collaborating with ceramicist TakuroKawata.

BACK IN BLACK

Balenciaga AW 20/21, courtesy of iMAXTREE

From black leather separates, to minimalistic, monastic monochrome, there was plenty of head-to-toe black to match the season’s dark mood. To be paired with a black combat lug-sole boot.

KEEP IT IN CHECK

Saint Laurent AW 20/21, courtesy of iMAXTREE

Ranging from the school girl checks and tartans to blanket plaids (think all things 90s and ‘Clueless'), argyle and menswear checks, the best offerings came in unexpected colours or scale.

THE NEW SCHOOL CAPE

JW Anderson AW 20/21, courtesy of iMAXTREE

Capes may be a classic fall outerwear staple but the fashion update ranges from cape or capelet combos mixed into tops or jackets, like JW Anderson’s trench, or Nina Ricci’s leather, cocoon-style version.

THE (IN)DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE

Balmain AW 20/21, courtesy of iMAXTREE

Whether taking inspiration from the 70s (Celine), the 80s (Balmain) or the 90s, the Parisienne ”bourgeoise” came back, with or without irony. Pussy-bow blouses, horse-bit and gold details, the jupe-culotte and pencil skirts make a statement for fall.

NOVELTY TAILORING

Stella McCartney AW 20/21, courtesy of iMAXTREE

We’ve seen the tailoring trend literally blow out of proportion with oversized shapes and bold shoulders, but add asymmetric closures and details, as well as cropped versions to Fall’s It-list.

2020-03-11 00:08:00.0