Our Favorite Trends from Paris Fashion Week AW 2014

Spring is almost here, and that means another season of fashion shows is winding to a close. Here to help you make sense of the madness, the lovely Marissa Cox reports on the season’s most notable runway trends. -Geneviève

Tweed – Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Margiela
Tweed turned up at Paris Fashion Week’s most talked about show, Chanel – a full-scale supermarket set up in the Grand Palais that made shopping for groceries look incredibly glamorous.

Colorful candied shades of tweed swept down Karl Lagerfeld’s chic supermarket aisles in the shape of overcoats, cropped jackets, trouser and skirt-suit combos and even spilled onto trainers. Panels of tweed in autumnal shades were inserted into tough, but feminine leather skirts and dresses at Louis Vuitton. At Margiela, models were clad head-to-toe in sophisticated, tailored versions of the classic fabric.

Tartan – Paul & Joe, Saint Laurent, Sacai, Céline, John Paul Gaultier, Westwood
Associated with cold winter nights spent by the fire or 70s punk, this classic print has become the calling card for British designer Vivienne Westwood, who gave it a tribal update this season. Jean Paul Gaultier, another designer who has a thing for the traditional Scottish weave, clothed his models in full-on tartan regalia. Tartan also crept into Saint Laurent’s collection in the shape of classic red kilts and capes. And at Sacai, subtle tartan checks showed up on oversized deconstructed coats and knits.

Leopard Print – Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Chloé, Céline, Vanessa Bruno
A trend that refuses to die out, leopard print will be back this autumn in a more grown up, modern incarnation. Phoebe Philo at Céline gave it a contemporary update, adorning military ponyskin coats with the popular print. Chloé brought out the tough print’s softer side in multicolored shades, while Givenchy embellished it with thick stripes of red fur edging, darker contrasted panels and embroidered floral butterfly winged appliqué. Saint Laurent’s Creative Director Hedi Slimane added some sparkle to grungy cool-girl ensembles and Vanessa Bruno created leopard print coats in various shades of grey.

Belts – Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Castelbajac, Elie Saab, Ungaro, Givenchy, Galliano, Céline, Jean Paul Gaultier, Haider Ackerman, Margiela
If you’re going to give new life to one classic accessory this autumn/winter, let it be a black or brown leather belt. A focal point at Louis Vuitton, it cinched in coats, knits and skirts – drawing the eye to tiny waists. At Hermes belts gave shape to loosely-fitted dresses, draped coats and chunky knits, and at Givenchy tan belts broke up busy prints or drew dresses in for evening.

Pleats – Sacai, Givenchy, Galliano, Céline, Juntya Wanatabe, Vanessa Bruno
No other trend will make you want to go back to school like the pleat. Pretty pleats could be seen throughout the collections; Bill Gaytten revealed velvet and chiffon pleated skirts and dresses in an array of rusts, purple and turquoise hues for John Galliano. Top stitched pleated skirts were updated with a band of block colour at Givenchy and Vanessa Bruno remained faithful to the schoolgirl style with grey pleated skirts.

Cream – Hermes, Iris Van Harpen, Paul & Joe, Castelbajac, Givenchy, Galliano, Chloé, Celine, AS Vandervorst, Sonia Rykiel, Isabel Marant, Vanessa Bruno
Not an easy color for Parisians (you might have to rethink that glass of red), cream will nonetheless be brightening up grey winter days as it’s set to be one of autumn’s biggest trends. Hermes, Chloé and Céline dressed models head to toe in the sumptuous shade, whilst cream jackets and tailored coats topped black trousers, lifting daywear at Givenchy. Queen of cool Isabel Marant sent models walking in belted, slouchy cream pants, knits embellished with graphic prints, and cream shearling waistcoats.

Fringe – Valentino, Sacai, Iris Van Harpen, Roland Mouret, Lanvin
This trend will have you reaching for your scissors. Leather skirts and trench coats benefited from finely cut fringing at Valentino, adding swing and movement. Roland Mouret dressed up more demure tailored coats and jackets with monochrome fringing that swished and danced while models walked. At Lanvin, by far the most beautiful of the bunch, Alber Elbaz almost adorned his girls from top to toe in silk tassels, from hats that shook as heads bobbed down the catwalk, to fringed detailing on coats and cocktail dresses that made the garments appear to shiver and shake like cheerleader pompoms.

Capes – Valentino, Saint Laurent, Valli, JunyaWatanabe , Yohji Yamamoto
This autumn’s cover up of choice is set to be the cape. It sprang up on the catwalk at Saint Laurent in tweed (think Sherlock Holmes) and in lipstick red, à la Little Red Riding Hood. Valentino gave it a fairytale twist, embroidering darker hues with birds and flowers, or a vibrant graphic harlequin print in clashing colors. Junya Watanabe crafted deconstructed patchwork capes in black with traditional duffle coat detailing.

Fur/shearling – McQueen, Paul & Joe, Elie Saab, Sacai, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel, Isabel Marant, lanvin
This is one trend you’ll be happy to see again when winter brings colder days. Warm and practical, fur will never go out of fashion. McQueen’s magical fairytale designs, adorning characters not unlike those seen in Game of Thrones, were given heavy fur collars, cuffs and hoods, while Lanvin’s tailored military style jackets had an added extra layer of warmth with fur. The cool girl’s go-to designer Isabel Marant (almost nonchalantly) added fur as finishing touches to her casual, bohemian collection.

A Line – Valli, Vuitton, Hermes
A-line is one of the most flattering and feminine styles and luckily for us ladies it was all over the catwalks this season. Giambattista Valli created metallic A-line dresses with added sparkle in romantic hues of dusty pink, ruby red and burgundy. A-line was the most dominant shape throughout Nicolas Ghesquiere’s collection for Louis Vuitton, accentuated by belts. Sarah Burton’s fairytale designs at Alexander McQueen featured dramatically ruffled A-line skirts as well as lace dresses and fur coats in the complementary shape.

 

Cheat Sheet:

Colour: Cream
Print: Leopard Print
Accessory: Belt
Cover up: Cape
Style: A-line

Related links:

• For a complete look at all the shows we suggest heading over to Style.com.
• Get a little glimpse backstage thanks to French Vogue.
• The most talked about (and photographed) guest of Paris Fashion Week this time around? Rihanna of course. The Telegraph gives us the lowdown of her fashion week outfits.

Written by Marissa Cox for the HiP Paris Blog. All photos by Ylenia Cuellar. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, London, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.