Scene Setting: The show was staged some 5.3kms outside of the centre of Paris, as is customary for the designer. Yellow carpeting covered the vast space, running halfway up the walls and under windows and then peeling down. Guests stood in the middle as the sound of Radiohead signalled the start of the show. At the head of the catwalk a smart yellow sun hovered just above the floor bringing to mind Olafur Eliasson’s installation at Tate Modern in 2003. The light channelled an optimistic futurism – somewhere between the dawn in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the rays setting on a faraway desert.
Mood board: The look was 2000s sci-fi. Models had hands wrapped inside muffs printed with the words: ‘Arrival: the future has begun’ and ‘Solar Youth: they don’t want you to know what you are.’ Long slim coats had ‘RS LAB’ printed on the chest pocket and were worn with metallic high neck tops. Ponchos elongated the line of the body and restricted the arms. A fuzzy coat was laminated down the back; some looks came out smothered in clear plastic.
Finishing touches: Ahead of the show Simons unveiled five iterations of a new ‘Runner’ shoe – an ankle boot with zips up the back and moulded half-trainer heel. News of the project – which will be manufactured solely by Simons rather than with a sports brand – broke a week before via the designer’s Instagram account. The capsule of eight styles will be ‘an investigation of form and function and an exploration of shape, the typical silhouettes of sports sneakers are re-proposed.’ Simons is stepping into the future with a modish, sporty sartorialism.
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The Wallpaper* Design Issue comes with our Salone del Mobile must-seesThe May 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is on sale now, taking in Milan Design Week, the Venice Biennale, and a very stylish tea party
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Aboard Gio Ponti's colourful Arlecchino train in Milan, a conversation about design with FormafantasmaThe design duo boards Gio Ponti’s train bound for the latest Prada Frames symposium at Milan Design Week
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The ultimate high-performance earbuds, courtesy of McLaren and Bowers & WilkinsThe new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 McLaren Edition continues a decade’s worth of cross-pollination between these two tech-focused British manufacturers
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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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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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Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons rove the digital realm for S/S 2021‘Technology is a part of humanity itself’ said the duo of their live streamed S/S 2021 show
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Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s -
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
