Slime time
Loewe creative director JW Anderson often includes a poster in his invitations for the Madrid-based house, allowing guests to pin a little something of his vision on their wall at home. For S/S 2020 things got gunky, as the designer included a poster of the brand’s spring campaign shot be regular collaborator Steven Meisel and creatively masterminded by agency M/M (Paris), of two hands with long manicured talons, grabbing oozing globules of flourescent green grunge. Photography: Aylin Bayhan. Props: Marianne Kakko
Cloud fine
It was blue-sky thinking for a number of brands, who took inspiration from cloud-populating sunny skies for their S/S 2020 show invitations. Emporio Armani’s show was inspired by the sky above, and its invite featured a blue sky with a subtly metallic sheen. In Paris, Y/Project and Lemaire featured photographic shots of the venues of their shows, the Pont Alexandre III Bridge and the École Duperré, shot against a picture-perfect sky.
Hopeless romantic
There was rumbling of modern romance for S/S 2020 as brands offered up objects with a sensual, boudoir appeal. Take N°21’s show invitation – a pair of pale pink pants which nodded to its lingerie-flashing sensibility, Nanushka’s elegant fan with a tantalising tassel, or Burberry’s delicate offering, imagined as a gauzy lace doily, which referenced the show’s Victorian inspiration.
Book smart
Since his appointment at Celine, Hedi Slimane has celebrated the power of print with an invitation presented as a hotly-coveted hardback book. For the brand’s S/S 2020 men’s offering, a chalk grey canvas-covered volume concealed a series of colourful tear out posters, featuring artwork by David Kramer. For women’s, it featured enthralling images of sculptures by artist Hu Xiaoyuan.
Bright side
There was a punch of primary colour as brand’s indulged in a vibrant paint box of greens and reds. Issey Miyake, Roksanda and Dilara Findikoglu favoured cardinal red, while ever sustainably-minded Stella McCartney, opted for fresh forest green.
Tropical touch
Two decades ago Jennifer Lopez wore a plunging tropical print Versace gown to the Grammy Awards, and her look was so searched for online it prompted then-burgeoning company Google to design its now ubiquitous Image Search. Lopez broke the internet once more when she walked in the label’s S/S 2020 show in a similar version of this iconic style. Versace’s show invitation – a tropical frond emblazoned flip book – alluded to the popular revival of Lopez’s famed dress, with its pages preempetivley flicked to reveal the words ‘Versace womenswear SS2020’ inside a Google Image search bar.
