Vincent Garnier Pressiat thinks the world is moving too fast. He worked his metaphor with holograms of a Cadillac, referencing a toy car gifted to his five-year-old self by his grandmother. The noise of cars revving in the background amplified the ambience on a set of repurposed tires — also used to create an innovative fabric for a gown in the collection — and fake snow. His dark, edgy collection was conceived as an answer to the need for speed.
With Jean Paul Gaultier sitting front row, live music from violinist and composer Sylvain Picart setting the tone and Julia Fox on the runway, it was clear he continues to set a pace.
“It’s amazing, he’s very talented. What more can I say,” enthused Gaultier after the show.
In a palette of black, charcoal and off-white, Pressiat delivered sophisticated, pitch-perfect takes on body-con dressing with hints of a cabaret aesthetic. Many he paired with fake Mongolian fur pieces evoking giant chapka hats, their fibers undulating as a diverse cast of models walked in his gender-neutral designs.
Jackets were crafted from the same fabric; one with giant structured shoulders had the look of angel’s wings; another had a rigid boned collar backed with satin that played on the corsetry details the designer favors.
Lace-up fabrications were also a nod in this direction, structuring the back of a tailored wool coat, a vaporous shirt dress, the front of jeans or the sides of a strip of a miniskirt hemmed with fur.
Jersey and wool dresses with asymmetric lines hugged the body. In one such look, the top was turned down to make it into a skirt, a slim chain all that held it in place over the model’s bare buttocks beneath. Pressiat is skilled in celebrating and revealing the body with an edgy aesthetic without descending into vulgarity. If the cheers from his guests as the models deambulated were anything to go by, he’s on a winning streak.
For more Paris Fashion Week reviews, click here.