Fashion week S/S 2014 invitations: womenswear collections

Our favourite Fashion Week invitations from the S/S 2014 season's womenswear selection ranges in spectrum from de-bossed minimalism to 3D flash Writer: Mariel Reed; Photography: Jessica Klingelfuss

(Image credit: Jessica Klingelfuss)

By Jack Moss

last updated 12 October 2022

in Features

**Fendi:** Abstract layers, sprayed in different shades of pink, created a gradient effect

Negative space was used to differentiate between men's and women's collection invites — **Dries Van Noten:** Negative space was used to differentiate between Dries Van Noten's S/S 2014 men's and women's collection invites. In delicate gold leaf, this exquisitely thin acetate sheet was the womenswear mate to the corresponding menswear invitation

**Saint Laurent:** Along with a complete rebrand of the historic house, new creative director Hedi Slimane introduced an invitation art booklet to Saint Laurent. This season it features the works of Guy de Cointet (1978-1982) who went to high school with Yves Saint Laurent

**Antonio Marras:** Perhaps the most creative invite of the season, this small box opens to reveal a pop-up deer-girl hybrid, camouflaged by paper vegetation. Inspired by metamorphosis, Marras looked to artist Kathy Ruttenberg's 'Nature of the Beast' exhibit at the Stux Gallery in New York for this collection

**Kenzo:** The brand's ocean-conscious collection for S/S 2014 was reflected in its textured invitation, with 3D waves rippling across the vivid blue card

**Rochas:** A strip of black vinyl tape ran through the centre of Rochas' printed peach card, breaking up the softness of the gravure finish

black package embossed with the logo contained cards printed with works by El Mac

Prada: For her 'In the Heart of the Multitude' project, Miuccia Prada commissioned artists to create works that engage themes of femininity, representation, power and multiplicity. A black package embossed with the logo contained cards printed with works by El Mac, Mesa, Gabriel Specter, Stinkfish and illustrators Jeanne Detallante and Pierre Mornet

(Image credit: Prada)

golden ticket, embossed with little detail — **Chloé:** Chloé's golden ticket was ostentatious yet minimal. Embossed with little detail, the mirrored card drew attention by reflecting light from all angles

**Givenchy:** Each season Givenchy sends a limited-edition print with its invitation packet. For S/S 2014, guests were sent 'Flag/Givenchy' by M/M (Paris), 2013. Wallpaper* received the uniquely stamped edition number 241 out of 1,000

**Margaret Howell:** On A5 card, this invitation captures the shadow of a hand holding a hat worn by Howell's models. The reverse revealed details of the London studio show

**Salvatore Ferragamo:** The ivory card from Ferragamo had a milky smoothness from its textured matte finish, which more than made up for the lack of detail printed on the invitation

**Topshop Unique:** Experimenting with new materials, Topshop Unique used a strikingly minimal slice of polished steel, complemented by the unusual weight of the space-age metal object

**Acne Studios boutique opening:** In contrast to its minimal show invite, Acne sent an invitation to the opening of its new Paris store. Complete with a napkin advertising the drinks reception venue, the pink and silver polka dot-themed package provided a vintage clinquant appeal

**Alberto Guardiani:** On iridescent card, this chromatic invite was highly impactful considering the lack of text or embellishment

**Tod's:** The invite and matching envelope came de-bossed with an abstract circular pattern. Included was an invitation into Alessandra Facchinetti's design process. Featuring her sketches, notes and even a laser-cut leather swatch, the mock sketchbook bound in orange textured card provided insight into the 'Italian Set' theme of the show

**Giles:** The card's black textured-matte finish created a bold leather effect. Giles used this in combination with the pink lips that appeared intermittently throughout his collection - here in UV-varnish to create a contrasting surface

fibre-infused sheet folds out revealing an image of the Celine logo imprinted in cement

Céline: A fibre-infused sheet folds out revealing an image of the Celine logo imprinted in cement. With the textured invite came Phoebe Philo's mood book, containing images of graffiti shot by Hungarian photographer Brassaï

(Image credit: Céline)

**DSquared²:** A UV-varnished card with gold foil edging featured a Mondrian-esque geometric pattern in maroon and gold

**Chanel:** Inside a book-like buckram case, Chanel presented its 'Art…' collection look book on individual cards and a USB key. The invitation itself was printed on buckram-covered mount board, with show details printed on the back, made to look like the back of a painting canvas

**Moncler Gamme Rouge:** An envelope and card the colour of hearth-warming peat featured de-bossed Moncler branding and foil-printed text

**Versace:** Reflecting the theme of this season's menswear invitation, flexible Perspex was printed with silver and featured a transparent window border. Versace's logo stood solo on the front

**Sportmax:** Printed powder pink, this triplex invite alluded to the S/S 2014 collection's feminine palette

**Akris:** Trapezoidal gold paper unfolded to reveal a gold foil-embossed invitation on white card

**Pringle of Scotland:** Symbolic of the sports luxe approach taken for the house's S/S 2014 collection, Pringle's royal blue triplex styrofoam invitation was printed with a detail shot of sports-mesh

**Louis Vuitton:** An all-black invitation was a direct reference to Marc Jacobs' noir finale collection for Louis Vuitton. The rough texture added a contrasting surface to the black foil typeface

**Paul Smith:** Houndstooth often plays an essential role within Paul Smith's collections. For S/S 2014 his invitation was embossed with the duo-textured pattern in silk foil on mount board with bright orange edging. The opposite side featured screen-printed show details in contrasting luminous green

**Masha Ma:** Masha Ma delivered an arrestingly minimal invitation. A primitive de-bossing technique on white paper raised the letters far off the card, creating a three-dimensional texture. All in white, the folded card and off-kilter envelope were pristinely simple

Alternate dye-cut rounded edges, embossed with a distinctly modern H logo

Hermès: Alternate dye-cut rounded edges create the illusion of a parallelogram. The front of the card was embossed with a distinctly modern H logo

(Image credit: Hermès)

**Neil Barrett:** Almost identical to the men's invitation, this black mount-board was printed with a bold graphic in vinyl and UV-varnish, creating an alternating texture throughout the text. The same graphic appeared on garments in the collection

**Pierre Hardy:** A colourful abstract illustration was printed on white card. The flip side revealed an invitation to view the designer's latest women's shoe and bag collection

**Miu Miu:** Using the same format as past seasons, Miu Miu adorned each component of the invite with a cloth label. An MDF 'seating block' allocation was edged in gold and coated with white textured paper, while the invitation itself was coated in a rubbery vinyl with gold-leaf detail

**Gucci:** Gold and rose gold foil fronted this UV-varnished invitation from Frida Giannini. The minimal two-tone facade was echoed on the opposite side in white with gold foil text

envelope swathed with a red foil logo, graced with an illustration of a stiletto heel

Roger Vivier: Delivered in an envelope swathed with a red foil logo, Roger Vivier's mount-board invitation was graced with an illustration of a stiletto heel and detailed with matching red foil

(Image credit: Roger Vivier)

A collection of unusual envelopes highlight the different calligraphic styles and sizes used this season

**Richard Nicoll:** The UV-varnished card was the same shade of pink seen throughout Richard Nicoll's collection. De-bossed with the designer's name, the simple invite matched many of the minimal looks on the catwalk

**Stella McCartney:** Known for attaching gifts to her invitations, Stella McCartney gave out green googly-eye rings this season. Affixed to the card, the ring is arranged on a hand featuring logo-adorned nails

**Alexander McQueen:** A faintly de-bossed Art Deco pattern in matte white foil ornamented this white card with red edges. The pattern popped up frequently during the catwalk show, too

**Jil Sander:** Repeating the format from seasons past, Jil Sander's robust card reflected the brand's minimalist aesthetic. The type embossed on the back gave the illusion that the text had been pushed through the card and was printed in lemon sorbet yellow foil on the front

**Burberry Prorsum:** London landmarks emerge from inside Burberry Prorsum's laser-cut pop-up invitation. In the centre of the busy skyline is the British brand's Horseferry road headquarters

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Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.

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