VIONNET SPRING SUMMER 2017 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK

In a romantic ode to the sea, the Vionnet collection for Spring/Summer 2017 celebrates a feminine wanderlust from coastal tide pools to the ocean depths.

Channeling the heroines of Homer’s Odyssey towards a fresh, nautical optimism, a rhapsody of lightness emerges as the silhouette sways in languid motion. Echoes of aquatic flora and fauna abound in the featherweight textiles and ebullient palette that metamorphose into fanning, sculpted silhouettes imbued with the inherent dynamism of Vionnet’s bias cut.

Delicately fluent with crépon chiffon, georgette, silk tulle and encrusted with geometrical lace, floor-skimming gowns are crafted in tiers of plissé or stitched in panels of parachute silk like billowing sails. Rope bodices and belts mirror traditional sailor’s knots, creating intricate linear constructions that control meticulous draping.

Elsewhere a shivering abundance of textures invokes the mysterious romance of an underwater world, from floating dresses swathed in pale fringe and bubble-printed chiffon crépon to white cady tops cut to expose a rainbow strata of layered silk.

Even double-breasted blazers and trimmed trousers behold an innate fluidity: tailored long and lean in shades of ivory and pale blue they bear bold statements of anti-digital introspection embroidered or printed behind curtains of fringe. Collaged across poplin day dresses and wide palazzo trousers, a bird’s eye view beach scene nods to a lucid dream state of summer escape.

The Vionnet ‘Mosaic’ handbag with interchangeable rabat returns as a giant shopper in deep olive calfskin, and the ‘Maddé clutch is worn belted at the waist. Black or silver rope gladiator sandals are crafted in embossed and metallic leathers with a touch of watersnake.