March 15, 2007

Athens, Greece - With the much awaited Fall/Winter ready-to-wear collections in Paris finished, I find myself here contemplating the most eventful moments of the season. As this was a particularly strong season for us here in Paris, it is really hard to say that one house got the upper hand on all of the other houses and independent designers showing in the city of lights. But his season did manage to have a few surprises for us.

Of the best shows in town, my personal favourites include Christian Lacroix, Elie Saab, Céline, Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Emanuel Ungaro, Kenzo, Martin Grant and Lie Sang Bong.

Though, these last two names are not household names, they are well established in the inner ranks of fashion. Martin Grant, who also designs the Barney’s signature collection, presented his own collection of garments which can only be considered as a work in pure luxurious style. And as for Lie Sang Bong, you just had to be there! Dear lord how fabulous his show was!

The Japanese diva, Junko Shimada and the Portuguese beauty Fatima Lopes along with Dice Kayek and Michel Klein all signed very strong collections too. Meanwhile at Guy Larouche, Damian Yee is seemingly finding his voice at the houses after a less than brilliant start six months ago as artistic director. His fine Fall/Winter collection nearly erases all the bad memories from the mixed collection for Spring/Summer 2007 presented by the house under his name.

And lastly, this season also saw the return of Jeremy Scott to the runways of Paris. Like him or absolutely detest him, the American designer seems to be more at home here in France than in the US. He is quite theatrical and the runways of the city of lights really are far better suited to showcase his fashion temperaments. Welcome home Jeremy…