Paris: Courrèges and The Row

In a Wednesday of gridlock in central Paris, two contrasting collections – Courrèges and The Row – stood out for the certainty of their visions, both staged flawlessly in radically different locations.
 

Courrèges: Uplifting fashion

The key to the latest excellent collection for the house of Courrèges by Nicolas Di Felice was a simple one, the act of throwing a few yards of fabric around a torso, though in an upward gesture.
 
The result was some thoroughly modern fashion – a slimline, sculptural and dramatic collection that won him a thunderous ovation Wednesday morning inside the Carreau du Temple.

Aided by a brilliant piece of staging, a pristine white square elevated up into the wrought iron rafters of the 19th century market. While its center rose and fell three meters in time to a slow heartbeat on the soundtrack.
 
Di Felice kicked off with some brilliant trench-dresses, that swept up in the air into funnel necks. All hung impeccably. He cut bold coats with huge rising lapels in the house’s classic plastic covered jersey. Drapped with great skill, many looks suggested a whirlpool rising.
 
For evening, he created a series of slim, cocktails in semi-sheer silks and techy fabrics, each meticulously finished with single small feathers. Light, unexpected and very new – just like this collection.
 

Though his most telling gesture was his placement of pockets at the front or around the hip of many coat dresses, sheathes and pants, imparting an unexpected pose to many models.
 
His front row gave him a great ovation at the finale – Juliette Binoche, François-Henri Pinault (CEO Of Kering, and the patron of Courrèges), Brooklyn Beckham, rapper Rich the Kid, Tina Kunakey, Valentina Zenere, Omar Ayuso and Korean girl group ITZY, who literally came in with an entourage of 25 hanger-ons.
 
“A la recherche d’un frisson,” explained Di Felice, meaning in search of a thrill.
 
“Like André (Courrèges, the house’s founder) I work by draping on the torso. I wanted the sense of a human touch, something that reassures and envelopes,” he continued after being surrounded by stars and fans.
 
Juliette embracing Nicolas tightly, repeating the word “Perfect, perfect, perfect.” Rich the Kid called him a genius; Pinault posed for photos; Emily Ratajowki hugged him like a brother and ITZY brought the designer a present, which paparazzi insisted they keep out of their shot.
 

 The Row: Hitchcock in the Ist arrondissement

A Hitchcockian moment in Paris fashion, with a jazz trumpet soundtrack and icy heroines parading around an elegant mansion in the latest collection by The Row.
 
With deep pile carpets, mid-century furniture and the location – the Hotel Castanier, built in the mid 1750s by a banker known at the time as the richest bachelor in France – the setting could not have been more apt for The Row.
 
Ever since The Row was founded in 2006, its designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been known as the queens of quiet luxury, which is what this collection was. That said, since coming to show in France, The Row has gradually developed a far more opulent and sculptural style. Sometimes riffing on elements seen by other foreign creators who have shown in Paris – from Issey Miyake to Albert Elbaz – but very much on their own terms.
 
This season they used first-rate fabrics – double face cashmere, silky gabardine, perfectly made plissés – to create exaggerate shapes that never overwhelmed. It’s a tricky balance, but they always manage to pull that off.

They opened with a funnel neck trench that managed to be A-Line and yet ever so cocoon shaped at the same time. The cut grand cashmere coats, then enveloped them further with lapels and collars that wrapped all the way around the upper torso. Their mannish double-breasted town coats touched the ankle and doubled the shoulders of the models. They showed a flesh colored vest with a perfectly sculpted anthracite plissé skirt that would have made Brancusi smile.
 
Staged on a mix of models – including veterans Erin O’Connor, Eva Herzigova and Kristen McMenamy – this was a very sophisticated fashion statement. 
 
Ideally staged and located and a reminder that the Olsen sisters without using a single logo or monogram have managed to create a highly distinctive and instantly recognizable style for The Row. At least, that is for the tutored eye. No wonder they seem so at home showing in Paris.