Scene setting: The models walked in random formation across the vast, chilly basement of the Palais de Tokyo to the sounds of Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé singing Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix from Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson and Delilah. The down-lined cabans, striped with canvas and paint, and cut in opera cape volumes made a fitting attire for Dalilah’s devious, rapturous aria.
Mood board: Our world is obsessed with neat little boxes. Creatively, we’re paralysed by the paranoia that there must be right and wrong answers for everything, from ‘Does a dress becomes a tabard if worn by a man?’ to ‘Is fashion really art?’ In spite of this, Rick Owens is a vital and noteworthy designer because his clothes are impossible to label. In the past, he has meditated on darkness and how to approach physical and ecological decline gracefully; last season focused on protection and the models wore cocooning clothes that looked ready for their day of reckoning. Entitled 'Glitter', A/W 2017 is more upbeat and softer both in colour and shape. Optimistic for the future, it celebrates transgression and anti-conformity with bravado.
Best in show: A series of tiered nylon down jackets were wound around the shoulders and strapped together with t-shirts. Soft, balloon-like colours and exaggerated volume suggested both lightness and armour, spinning a poetic story. Owens’ clothes spark a debate about what fashion needs to be in a confusing, fast changing world. Despite his label’s huge commercial appeal, here it wasn’t always easy to decipher what was what. Snippets of recognisable garments plunged out of the layers of wrapped, bandaged fabrics. The show opened with a set of structured coveralls, worn half undone, jutting out and collapsing around the body in stiff folds. Long, draped trousers scuffed the floor.
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Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
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Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
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Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
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Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France FemmesMarking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
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At home with Rick OwensAs California-born fashion designer Rick Owens is named one of the Wallpaper* USA 300 – a celebration of creative America – we revisit our conversation with Owens in the run-up to his S/S 2023 menswear show last year
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Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu MiuIn this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
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Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear showsFrom giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
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Paris Fashion Week A/W 2021: discotheque chic to apres-ski sleek -
Walk this way: navigating S/S 2021's Paris Fashion WeekHow the City of Lights looked to the sartorial realities of our much changed lifestyles
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Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
