Paris seemed to be standing still this season. With the current economic climate weighing down on just about every designer, the shows themselves were safe and for the most part terribly uninteresting. Call it the recession effect or just simply a reflection of the atmosphere, but a fashion week usually known for being vibrant, irreverent, directional and fashion forward seemed to be none of these things. Let’s hope that next season brings back the palpable excitement and mischievous quality that ordinarily is Paris Fashion Week.

Alexander McQueen

Though the rest of the Paris fashion week took a safe approach to the collections this season McQueen, ever the showman, decided to portray a theatrical and all around fun collection. The collection did not necessarily push boundaries or take fashion anywhere new, but the show itself was much more exciting and whimsical than the rest of the shows this season. Of course, the items themselves were recession friendly and “wearable” when the looks were dissected.

Givenchy

This season Ricardo Tisci infused gorgeous spurts of strong shoulders, feather, fur, and of course his typical fetish inspired accents. A key look this season for Givenchy was a one-bold-shouldered statement dress playing with proportions and trends of the last few seasons. I may be biased as everything Ricardo does in my eyes is perfection, but I do believe this season he gave a wearable and effortlessly chic collection. J’adore!!

Yves Saint Laurent

YSL is known for being a timeless classic and this is exactly what Stefano Pilati delivered. Beautiful leathers were mixed with greys, and tailored smoking jackets (a house of YSL specialty). Styled with sky high platform stilettos, it was the perfect mix of chic city wear with a Parisian twist.

Balmain

This show was by no means groundbreaking, however, it was strong due to its avid fan following and the fact that it is a sartorialists dream. Balmain, after all, was spotted on just about every editrix during the fashion weeks. Basically Decarnin gave them what they wanted. The collection was a continuation of spring’s strong shoulder trend and this season the look du jour is the strong shouldered jacket paired with harem pants or sexy mini versus last season’s skinny bleached jeans. Let’s just hope he evolves the collection next season and gives us something new to talk about.

Balenciaga

Balenciaga is usually one of the top of my list as I adore the designer, however, I did find this season slightly disappointing. The futuristic influences and strong silhouettes are usually what draws the Balencaiga customer back for me, but this season had a different tone. This season is still strong as the science fiction influences were put on hold for more wearable items, and in the middle of a recession this is exactly what women want. Strong shoulders were ever present paired with beautifully fluid draping.

Alexandra is a London based Buyer/Consultant working with various luxury concept stores all over the world. She worked in the buying offices of Holt Renfrew Canada and Bergdorf Goodman early on in her career. Alexandra covers fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, Paris and India.

Image source: style.com