Mood board: Before hybrid garments were the silhouette du jour, there was Junya Watanabe. The Japanese designer is renowned for his spliced, mash-up aesthetic, which sees him deconstruct and piece garments back together with the precision of a punk tailor. Watanabe adopted more of a couturier’s sensibility for S/S 2019 – with a spring offering presented to a spectacularly uplifting Queen soundtrack – which fused his signature denim and patchwork tartan with voluminous tulle petticoats, evening gown silhouettes and pleated volumes. Burgeoning Parisian designers like Marine Serre and Y/Project’s Glenn Martens have taken a couture-inspired approach to their spring collections. Amongst new streetwear norms and sporty aesthetics, are these proportions the new rebellion?
Best in show: Distinctive shapes and silhouettes were cut and spliced together. Take a pair of dungarees, one leg a straight jean silhouette, the other a petticoat of voluminous net, a stripe t-shirt spliced together with a pretty puffball dress. Elsewhere there were patched denim overcoats, bias cut gowns dressed down with t-shirts and tattoo motif body suits, and band t-shirts that will all sing on the shop floor.
Finishing touches: Just in case those couture shapes and swathes of tulle and net got a little too saccharine, models strode the catwalk to Queen’s The Millionaire Waltz and Somebody to Love, in highlighter hue cropped wigs, punk dog collar necklaces and stacked Buffalo boots.
Junya Watanabe S/S 2019.
Junya Watanabe S/S 2019.
Junya Watanabe S/S 2019.
Junya Watanabe S/S 2019.
-
Pretty in cactus-inspired pink, this Mexican desert house responds to its arid contextCasa Cardona, a pink house by architects Sensacional Dinamica Mexicana, is a multigenerational home that celebrates colour and changing light
-
A playful café and wine bar in Almaty sets a new standard for Kazakh hospitality designDesigned by local studio NAAW, Six Coffee + Wine is a thoughtful study in contrasts, with its whimsical atmosphere evolving throughout the day
-
Why Finland’s oldest city prides itself on its future legacyRediscover Turku, a city of islets and saunas, which is growing and changing with tradition, sustainability and climate as its guides
-
How Bureau Betak transformed the runway show: ‘Our currency is emotion and memory’Pioneering production company Bureau Betak has masterminded some of the most inspiring runway sets of the last 30 years, dazzling both real-life guests and an ever-growing virtual global audience. Hugo Macdonald meets the people behind the magic
-
‘Never copy the past’: how Nicolas Di Felice is taking Courrèges into the futureAt Courrèges, artistic director Nicolas Di Felice is marrying radical thinking, raving and reinterpreted minimalist codes to give the French fashion house a new dynamism. Hannah Tindle heads to Paris to meet the designer
-
Glenn Martens’ thrilling Maison Margiela debut was a balancing act between past, present and futureThe Belgian designer made his debut for the house last night with a collection that looked towards medieval decoration for a new expression of opulence
-
Art meets perfume in cross-disciplinary fragrance series Nez 1+1Talents from film and fragrance come together to create Ansongo, the latest scent resulting from a creative matchmaking project by perfume revue Nez
-
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
-
The collections you might have missed this S/S 2026 menswear seasonBetween the headliners in Paris, Milan and Florence, a few off-schedule displays are deserving of honourable mention – from Martine Rose’s sexually-charged portrait of Kensington Market to Sander Lak’s appointment-only namesake debut
-
‘They gave me carte blanche to do what I want’: Paul Kooiker photographs the students of Gerrit Rietveld Academie for Acne StudiosHeralding the launch of a new permanent gallery from fashion label Acne Studios, the celebrated Dutch photographer’s new body of work praises the bravery of ‘people who choose to go to an art school at a time like this’
-
‘I’m surprised that I got this far’: Rick Owens on his bombastic Paris retrospective, ‘Temple of Love’The Dark Prince of Fashion sits down with Wallpaper* to discuss legacy, love, and growing old in Paris as a display at the Palais Galliera tells the story of his subversive career
