Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly character in The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) has, since the movie's release, become an iconic representation of the fashion world. Priestly coolly says in response to an editor's suggestion of a spring editorial focusing on florals: "Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking." Every designer struggles to find the balance between brightening up post-winter lines with floral accents and actually bringing revolutionary elements to their pieces without being overly avant-garde.
The famous (and infamous) biannual fashion weeks - hosted in various cities across the globe - offer designers an opportunity to wow the A-listers of the fashion world and establish their places at the top of the totem pole of couture. This year, following New York and Milan, Paris Fashion Week - which ran from Feb. 25 to March 5 - featured several standout collections that made for a memorable season opener.
C?line's Spring/Summer (S/S) 2014 collection featured pieces that looked as if the designer had commissioned Henri Matisse to paint every oversized cape and belted dress on the runway. With wild, carefree brushstroke patterns in vivid primary colors, the collection drew obvious parallels to the creative touch of the Fauvist artist. Even long black coats that would have otherwise been sleek and unoriginal were revamped with oversized grommets in fun and mismatched colors.
Valentino's ready-to-wear 2014 collection reflected an entirely different era: Renaissance Italy. Dresses with intricate stitch work seemed like they could have been tapestries on the walls of the Palazzo Medici. Valentino's designers did not shy away from bright hues or surprising pops of fishnet material. The collection was a brilliant mesh of old and new - revamping Renaissance style for the modern era - and a visual representation of the relationship between old influence and modern artistry.
In the midst of all the wildly fun collections, however, there was no doubt that Rick Owens emerged as the true star of the week. With a diverse set of ages, body sizes and races modeling his pieces, Owens veered away from the typical white and stick-thin standard of years past. It is not as though fashion houses C?line and Valentino didn't impress with their lineups
