Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
All images via Getty. Click to enlarge.
Paris Fashion Week has wrapped, drawing fashion month to a close. Following a weird weekend in Milan (heavy on the pyrotechnics), a celeb-studded London showing, and an oddly uneventful New York season, Paris gave us just what was called for: Stellar star appearances, major designer shakeups, and really freaking gorgeous clothes.
After the jump we've got the ten essential events of Paris fashion week fall 2014, including how Anna Wintour landed second row at Valentino, where Kendall Jenner cropped up, and how Hedi Slimane managed to embrace glitter for Saint Laurent.
1.) Rick Owens again opted to show his collection on non-models. Last season, he used college step team performers as models; this time around he cast women that work with him (including the company's CEO, and architect Anna Tumaini, who works on his stores) as well as models, old and young.
2.) Anna Wintour sat second row at Valentino. Yeah. (Fashionista notes that "seats for American publications at the Valentino show were cut significantly this season", and Anna may have taken the second row seat to allow Sarah Mower, who covered the show for Vogue, a better view. So generous, that Anna.)
3.) Kendall Jenner walks the Givenchy runway (not super surprising, since designer Riccardo Tisci adores brother-in-law-to-be Kanye and big-half-sister Kim Kardashian) first, then appears on the mother effing Chanel catwalk.
4.) Speaking of Chanel, the set was a supermarket, loaded with double C branded groceries (like Coco Flakes). After the show, showgoers looted the set (check out an Instagram video of the commotion here). Not so fast, thieves: Security guards quickly confiscated pieces of the annihilated set—get the full scoop here.
5.) The world finally got to see Nicolas Ghesquiere's vision for Louis Vuitton and it was good. We've got the full gallery of runway looks right over here, plus a look at the bags and shoes.
6.) Hedi Slimane softened up his rock 'n roll Saint Laurent girl with a schoolgirl vibe, inviting soft brown and gray into his typically stark and dark aesthetic. Glitter was also present, primarily in accessories—watch for those bags and boots (in ankle and knee-high) to blow up editorially and commercially.
7.) Gisele emerges and she does so for Mr. Alexander Wang at his Balenciaga show.
8.) Critics swoon over Phoebe Philo's Celine, as usual. "The entire collection exudes straightforward confidence without the burdens of bravado or the distractions of elaborate inspiration," wrote Robin Givhan for New York Magazine. Kanye was among the front row.
9. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Comme des Garcons, also as usual. Designer Rei Kawakubo showed "monsters," which she relayed to Suzy Menkes represent "the craziness of humanity, the fear we all have, the feeling of going beyond common sense, the absence of ordinariness, expressed by something big, by something that could be ugly or beautiful."
10. And to end the week on a light note, how 'bout that FROW at Miu Miu? Pictured above we've got Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux, Margot Robbie, Rihanna, Lupita Nyong'o, Elizabeth Olsen, Bella Heathcote and Elle Fanning. To round things out. Jared Leto and Terry Richardson also attended, but they sat next to Emmanuelle Alt, who can probably handle the duo better than the flock of pretty birds.
· All PFW Fall 2014 coverage [Racked]
· All Fashion Month coverage [Racked]