The SS27 Superlatives
Fashion month, graded like a yearbook. Eight awards for the moments we're still texting about.
Four cities, a month of shows, and a group chat that never slept. Before SS27 disappears under the next season, we’re handing out awards. Not for the best collection. For the moments. Every one of them happened, and every one is on camera.
The mic drop
goes to
Saint Laurent
Anthony Vaccarello’s SS27 show landed ten years and two days after his debut. It ran in gold for 49 looks, then sent out the last ten in black, flipping the gold finale of Yves Saint Laurent’s Fall 1991 Rive Gauche show. He skipped interviews and sent black calla lilies with a note that said he’d “rather not say too much”. Ten days later Kering confirmed he was leaving. No successor named yet. The full story is here.
- 01Saint Laurent, Look 47. Still gold.
- 02Saint Laurent, Look 57. Then black.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway
Best stationery
goes to
Carven
Kai Nesselrath spent almost a decade at Saint Laurent before taking over design at Carven, and his first show started in your mailbox. The invite was a pencil, striped white and green, with a blank card to sketch on. The idea is the Carven woman as a doer, the kind who tucks a pencil behind her ear. Then the pencil shavings came back on the runway as gold earrings. Commitment.
Honourable mention: Dior, where Jonathan Anderson’s invite was a pair of polished walnuts.
- 01The invite. A striped pencil on a card.
- 02Detail, Look 15. Pencil shavings, in gold.
- 03Detail, Look 33. Another shaving.
- 04Detail, Look 48. Bigger curl.
- 05Detail, Look 54. Mismatched pair.
Invite: Tom Modol / WWD. Details: courtesy of Carven / Vogue Runway.
Most shoes, zero repeats
goes to
Chanel
Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel had 83 looks, and every look came with a different pair of heels. Eighty three pairs. Someone in that studio has the best and worst job in Paris. We zoomed in on eight.
- 01Black, with a bow.
- 02Red patent, pointed toe.
- 03Dark mule with a bow.
- 04Burgundy, with the bag.
- 05Pale, printed, laced.
- 06White, jewelled toe.
- 07Pale satin, a bow on top.
- 08Ivory with a red heel.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway (Details)
Stayed on topic
goes to
Prada
The show was called The Skirt. It had 63 looks. Every single one was a skirt look, no trousers, no dresses. Velcro embroidered with crystals, crinoline worn on the outside, cotton pretending to be leather. We liked it so much it got its own story.
- 01Prada, Look 14.
- 02Prada, Look 30.
- 03Prada, Look 44.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway
Rookie of the year, age 52
goes to
Miu Miu
Olivia Colman made her runway debut at Miu Miu, at 52, in a black leather skirt suit, and the audience audibly oohed. Jamie Bell walked too. The casting at Miu Miu is a whole genre now, and this was its best episode.
- 01Look 24. Olivia Colman on the runway.
- 02Detail. Olivia Colman, closer.
- 03Backstage. Olivia Colman and Jamie Bell.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway. Backstage: Acielle / Vogue Runway.
Fabric you'll google
goes to
Hodakova
Ellen Hodakova Larsson grew up sailing, and this collection went to sea. The runway was covered in sea salt. The opening looks were in deadstock viscose waxed with beeswax from a beekeeper in Stockholm, which makes a sturdy cloth look almost like paper. You’re googling beeswax fabric right now. It’s fine.
- 01Look 7. A brown coat.
- 02Detail. The coat, closer.
- 03Detail. A jacket worn open.
- 04Detail. A slip top and skirt.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway. Which looks are waxed is not confirmed look by look.
Guilty of theming
goes to
Simone Rocha
Simone Rocha showed in London at the Old Bailey, the criminal court. Her starting point was Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ, a painting of an arrest, which was rediscovered in 1990 in the dining room of a Jesuit house in Dublin after being assumed for years to be a copy. A painting about an arrest, shown in a courtroom. Case closed.
- 01Look 1, inside the Old Bailey.
- 02Look 18.
- 03Look 35.
- 04Look 44.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway
Same fit, different house
goes to
The bows
Watch the end of the shows, not the clothes. Designer after designer walked out for the bow in some version of the same fit: a dark shirt or sweater over straight blue jeans. Loewe, Dries Van Noten, Dior. Satoshi Kondo at Issey Miyake gets a near miss for wearing black trousers instead. Nobody sent a dress code. Everyone followed it anyway.
- 01The bow at Loewe.
- 02The bow at Dries Van Noten.
- 03The bow at Dior.
- 04The bow at Issey Miyake. Black trousers, near miss.
Photos: Gorunway.com / Vogue Runway (final frames of each show)
Special jury prize
Courrèges seated its debut audience on 450 mismatched chairs at the Palais de Tokyo. A season of creative director musical chairs, and someone finally made it literal.
That’s the list. Which award would you give?
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