PARIS WOMEN COLLECTIONS AUTUMN/WINTER 2017.18

“What’s new today, I wondered. Nothing, other than what comes out of connecting known things together. Everything lies in putting them together differently and with other contaminations”. So says Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director at Valentino, which helps us understand where fashion is at now, what direction it will take in the future and what choices is all about “connecting known things”, contaminated by personal visions and inspirations. It’s a big bow used to fasten a dress or thin blouse collar, it’s the long floral dress, perhaps with a big waistcinching belt, it’s clashing patterns and/or colours that look great together, the puff sleeves featured on jumpers, shirts and dresses, the frills covering the surfaces, the XXL earrings, the ‘bling bling’ surfaces of crystals and sequins. It’s perhaps no wonder that the return of the ostentatious detail goes hand in hand with another trend, , which is all lace, high collars and schoolgirl outfits. After all, Victoriana lace and needlework made a comeback in the ’80s in response to punk’s ‘rags’, and here they were on the Paris runways on long ethereal dresses that transformed the silhouette into a spindle, consecrating the eternal female. reworks menswear classics such as coats, blazers and pantsuits, elongating and/or widening them into oversize shapes or pairing them with feminine pieces in a harmonious contrast.