English designer Roland Mouret always pours his heart out in his press notes, making for a sincere experience during a fashion week that is as a whole anything but. 'It took me over fifty years to get here today, this morning, in this abandoned bank in Paris,' he wrote for his Winter collection. 'And what have I learnt? Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.' This season, he said, was not about presenting a look or an outfit but rather about advancing his skills as a designer. As such, he took his signature vacuum-sucked, three-quarter length dress silhouette and began cutting away from it piece by piece, collaging it back together with a mixture of materials. Mouret employed snake skin, leather, sheer netting and wools, cutting and pasting them into new vertical stripes or panels across the bodies of dresses and skirts that were yanked left of centre. There was a slight tribal quality to his patterns this season, as he introduced graphic, feathered arrow formations in woven black and white panels, or real feather appliqués across the fronts of dresses. The techniques the designer explored were all of top calibre this season, including the thick wool or printed jersey ribbons of fringe that fell to the floor like hula skirts. But when piled all together, including the leather collars that looked like scrolls of paper, at times his collaging took on a cumbersome effect. Mouret's work is lovely; it just needs a little more room to breathe so that he can truly fly.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
-
This retreat deep in the woods of Canada takes visitors on a playful journey91.0 Bridge House, a new retreat by Omer Arbel, is designed like a path through the forest, suspended between ferns and tree canopy in the Gulf Island archipelago
-
Terrified to get inked? This inviting Brooklyn tattoo parlour is for people who are 'a little bit nervous'With minty-green walls and an option to 'call mom', Tiny Zaps' Williamsburg location was designed to tame jitters
-
Let’s hear it for the Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike chiming watchThe Swiss watchmaker’s most complicated timepiece to date features an innovative approach to producing a crystal-clear sound
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: what to expectFive moments to look out for at Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 in Paris (starting Monday 7 July), from Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela to Demna’s Balenciaga swansong. Plus, ‘new beginnings’ from JW Anderson
-
Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
