No city manages to function as both a mirror and crystal ball during fashion week quite like Paris, where the scenes outside and inside the shows often contain the truest glimpses of what is trendy now and what will be hot next.
What’s relevant now can be discerned on the street, where a sea of skirts suggested the garment has become a wardrobe staple regardless of gender. Most styles were long, and many were patterned. On colder days, some of the skirts were layered over trousers, a combination that stood out more when the pants were baggier.
As for where fits — the sizes and shapes of clothes, that is — may be headed, brands offered clues on their runways. Balenciaga showed tops with contorted proportions that made models look kind of like turtles. Valentino presented boxy jackets with super short shorts. And a few designers, Loewe among them, experimented with straps, embellishing garments with long chains or strips of material meant to be worn over a shoulder like the handle of a bag.
