PFW Day 5-6: “Sexiness is not often associated with Africa”
Plus: The Yohj, Hermès gets the White Lotus treatment, Diesel accessories, and grown up elegance at Givenchy.
Hello everyone, this Paris fashion week has kept my daily walking distance at a 10k average. My dogs are barking! The weather in Paris has been so lovely, I even felt a little sun kissed on Saturday. If you’re shopping for daily facial sunscreen, I swear by this La Roche-Posay.
I launched a TikTok account for the newsletter that seems to be doing well. I’ve never used TikTok so bear with me, but the UX seems friendly enough. I’ll be testing reviews on there with the funny little video sticker of me talking. When I chatted with Vogue’s Thomas Delage about social media ecosystems, he gave me insight into Vogue’s digital strategy for diffusing news. They’re concepts I’m taking the plunge on.
I thought through the long walks, and a Y2K playlist, that the further you go into your career the more stop signs there are. But that those are just signs. And that in reality, it’s just fashion’s way of telling you to take the wheel. Let’s get to it.
Field Notes
Let’s talk about the Yohj.
There’s tailoring, and then there’s Yamamoto. There’s minimalism and then there’s texture. There’s color, and then there’s purple. The big black coats (made in luxurious wools) doubled as elegant and well-tailored. Yet they were casual enough to be reversible.
He offered generous turtlenecks, hair, and a seasoned cut. Luke Meager, from Haute La Mode, said of the collection, “you sit, you watch, you ingest, you digest, and admire the sculptural elements, the manipulations of wool, and the fluidity of draping. It’s truly one of the highlights of Paris Fashion Week!” Ever since Yohji Yamamoto stepped into the Paris fashion scene with Rei Kawakubo in 1981, this city has been blessed with seriously good design. His stuff is never about chasing trends. It’s the catwalk that’s after him.
“Sexiness is often not associated with Africa” — Laduma Ngxokolo, Maxhosa Africa.
After the Maxhosa Africa presentation, Laduma Ngxokolo held a press conference with a handful of journalists. He said, “Africa is about color”. Ngxokolo, a South African native, produces Maxhosa in Johannesburg and sources materials locally. He is best known for dressing Michelle Obama and Alicia Keys. This season he streamlined traditionalist codes and peppered the styling with Diesel buckle flats. Some of those tops would look great with a Jean or black tapered trousers.
He described to me his collection, ‘Thanksgiving’, as clothes his ancestors would wear today in heaven. When I asked him about his definition of elegance, he said, “it doesn’t have to look expensive as a form of beauty. You don’t have to buy an existing look from a brand to express elegance. It’s a form of self-interpretation and personality, without thinking what everyone thinks.” The looks felt earthy and even a little whimsical.
Sarah Burton’s Givenchy is Grown Up and Elegant. But was it too beige?
I really feel for this brand. Growing up in the Riccardo Tisci-era, when sportswear reigned and beauty was decadent, it was a relief to see Burton present a version of the last elegant house standing that was relevant and shoppable. Vanessa Friedman gushed about it in a rave. The makeup dress was an ode to femininity. The fishnet dress was both strikingly sexy and dressy.
But I liked the small details, such as the peacoat that could double as a mini-dress (even if it’s only styled like this once!), it could also look great with white jeans. The hourglass suits were really convincing in shape. It made the point that you really only need just one good trench coat, and a bevvy of gowns to choose from for the party.
The effect was good clothes that didn’t veer into multiple directions. The house of Givenchy has gone from sporty and street-style, to glamorous and chaotic, to austere and strict in the last decade. Here Burton gave it a fresh update that settled the dust, and didn’t need a headache or an aspirin to swallow. Maybe it was all too a little beige. But whatever, Burton knows it, and—it is just clothes after all. It will be interesting to see what she does next, and how the accessory line gets adapted in future seasons.
The White Lotus girl at Hermès
This season’s White Lotus is a little bit of a slow-burn, but it’s still the buzziest show on the airwaves. The fact that Sarah Catherine Hook, the Buddhist daughter, was there was telling for Hermès, who touts a no-celebrity savoir d’être.
Hermès was really good this season; dark and almost biker-like. Shearling and leather never looked to good together. Sleeves on sweaters were so long they covered the hands like gloves. The style formula of a grey sweaters thrown on the back, and knotted as a scarf, clashed with blacks and the equestrian hardware. It was all handsomely preppy, and even a little subversive. The detail du jour was the zipper, as in equestrian meets biker-chic runaway. An ingredient for Michelin-level fall dressing.
As always, thank you for being a subscriber.
Xx Kevin