The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom — The 'fashion month' that just ended on Tuesday night was full of headline-grabbing moments, but none could surpass the golden reunion of the Supers at Versace's Milan show. Meanwhile, in Paris, Rick Owens' walking sculptures and Thom Browne's tulle extravaganza were poignant reminders of fashion's transformative power. Here, BoF picks the Top 10 shows of the Spring/Summer 2018 season.
1. Versace — designed by Donatella Versace, MFW
Versace Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: InDigital
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Donatella's salute reanimated Gianni's greatest hits in such a way that the new generation could at least grasp some sense of their exuberant don’t-give-a-fuck quality.
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2. Prada — designed by Miuccia Prada, MFW
Prada Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: InDigital
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Miuccia Prada usually questions orthodoxy in a passive aggressive way, but this collection was infected with a no-nonsense grunge-y sensibility of resistance.
3. Rick Owens — designed by Rick Owens, PFW
Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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The collection was another way station on the designer's peculiar progress to a kind of peace, where his clothes speak quietly to more and more people.
4. Calvin Klein — designed by Raf Simons, NYFW
Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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Whether it was deliberate or not, Raf Simons nailed the lethal anxiety at the heart of the American dream, a self-doubt that inevitably stemmed from its foundation on genocide and slavery. Dream effortlessly turned nightmare in the hands of America’s poets laureate of terminal unease and Simons drew on them all in one way or another.
5. Thom Browne — designed by Thom Browne, PFW
Thom Browne Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: InDigital
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The show's darkness delivered magic on the catwalk with a collection that was as light as the fabric itself, and shot through with colour.
6. Chloé — designed by Natacha Ramsay-Levi, PFW
Chloé Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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Natacha Ramsay-Levi gave the brand's legendary romance a slightly eerie edge in a spectacular debut collection. It was obvious how much of the new Chloé girl is her.
7. Dries van Noten — designed by Dries van Noten, PFW
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Dries van Noten Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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The designer's always felt it’s fashion’s job to reflect its environment, but with the world currently cast into confusing shadow, that reflection was too dark. So he chose to accentuate the positive.
8. Loewe — designed by Jonathan Anderson, PFW
Loewe Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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Jonathan Anderson approaches complication with a playful magic, but the Balearic ease of his recent collections reflected his engagement with 'reality'.
9. Alexander McQueen — designed by Sarah Burton, PFW
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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The designer has trafficked in female paganism for the past few seasons. A garden suggests cultivation, nature tamed, but she was determined to shake that preconception with this collection.
10. Coach — designed by Stuart Vevers, NYFW
Coach Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital
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Stuart Vevers, with his outsider’s sensibility, infused the new collection with his love of Keith Haring; the takeaway was an upbeat celebration of youth and beauty.
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