The Paris catwalk or the price of feminine power

Clothing is an instrument of power.

Always has been.

An effective way to highlight the social class, status or position held in the social gear.

These first days of the Paris Fashion Week have reminded us of precisely that, the way in which women, historically far from power, have used clothing to imply that they have been obtaining it.

The designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, openly feminist, has resorted to the figure of Catherine de Médicis to sign one of the best collections in these six years of work at the head of Dior.

Her inspiration: the powerful Italian noblewoman who became queen consort of France in the mid-16th century and introduced the country to the fashion of the corset, the crinoline and the slashed (letting a glimpse of the white petticoats through cuts in the sleeves) .

Chiuri, another Italian in Paris, has imagined how Catalina would dress now: with corsets that are no longer tight, voluminous skirts up to the knees, flowery dresses that are cinched with tracksuit laces or fluid coats up to the feet printed with the map of Paris on their already iconic

.

As usually happens in all her collections, Chiuri has the talent to include clothes for all tastes in the same show.

In last Tuesday's, pants, tulle skirts, jackets, tailored jackets, tops, heels and mary janes with the soles of military boots told the same story of feminine power and aesthetic daring.

Four of Dior's proposals for next spring, presented last Tuesday at Paris Fashion Week. YOAN VALAT (EFE/EPA)

In his show on Tuesday, Saint Laurent built a square in the Trocadero, topped by a huge fountain and paved with aged-looking tiles.

A sample of the power of the firm -the stage will be reused on other occasions, as confirmed- to frame a parade that also spoke of power, in this case of

the masculinized aesthetic that some women followed in the eighties of the last century when they reached relevant job positions.

Anthony Vaccarello went back to that era to design long structured coats with blunt shoulders (shoulder pads are perhaps the most classic symbol of power in clothing) and form-fitting tubular dresses inspired by those worn on stage by dancer Martha Graham. .

The models, mounted on very high heels, almost unanimously wore this uniform, which only varied slightly to play with the transparencies in some garments.

Saint Laurent parade, on September 27 during the Paris fashion week that presents the collections for spring 2023. CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON (EFE)

The power today wears The Row.

For example, Shiv Roy's closet in the

series .

The Olsen sisters' brand, which has just turned 15, is something like the quintessence of exclusive basics and what they call discreet luxury.

In fact, its name comes from Savile Row, the London street where the best British tailors are concentrated.

After a couple of fatal years (they had to lay off a good part of their team during the pandemic), during their second presentation, in imposing halls near the Place Vendôme, the Olsen twins have once again redounded in the highest quality fabrics, in the perfect cuts, in its neutral color palette and in its minimalist aesthetic full of nuances, from

dresses to structured blazers.

With that same garment, Dries van Noten began his first physical parade since 2020 this Wednesday, with a voluminous black blazer that was followed by a dozen outputs of the same color.

The Belgian designer, the king of prints, began his collection for next spring betting on black and showing that, in addition to handling colorism, he masterfully knows how to handle pattern making.

The armed and sober clothes gave way to light garments that played faded and, in the last part, Van Noten returned to his essence with dresses full of small ruffles and decorated with hand-painted flowers.

“Protection and vulnerability”, the creator defined his collection, a kind of metaphor about flourishing in dark times, more relevant than ever.

Three of the exits in the Dries van Noten parade, this September 28 in Paris. Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT (AFP) / Gonzalo Fuentes (REUTERS)

And the power was also palpable in the Japanese Undercover.

Especially since he has presented his proposal in the American cathedral in Paris, and few places reflect that idea better than a church.

A collection as solemn as the stage: setting aside his usual commitment to the urban, designer Jun Takahashi has designed an incredible collection of basics with an asymmetric and/or deconstructed pattern, from white to beige and fluorine colours, an idea, the of the new wardrobe, which has also flown over the recent catwalks in Milan, with Bottega Veneta at the helm, and which now seems to have moved to the French capital.

If after the pandemic the firms opted for a fanciful and expressive fashion, now they seem to have returned to the idea of ​​uniform,

one of the most difficult to execute but one of the most successful in this industry.

Few things speak more of power (or lack thereof) than a uniform.

Parade of the spring/summer 2023 collection of the firm Undercover, at the American Cathedral in Paris, this September 28.Francois Mori (AP)

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