Isabel Marant might be the number one whisperer of Parisian girl cool, largely thanks to her nomadic style impulses. Well-traveled and curious, she’s been assembling references from far-flung corners of the world for decades. This season, she covered familiar territory with a collection that was inspired by the American West. “Barbie and Donald Duck!” said Marant jokingly of her inspiration. “Well no, it was actually about looking at a modern interpretation of the classic Western—more Jim Jarmusch than Clint Eastwood.”
Cowboys of every stripe have been on the fashion landscape lately, particularly among European designers. It’s surprising that the style myth of Americana continues to thrive given the epically low international approval ratings of the States right now. Since Trump took office, the U.S. has seen a marked decline in tourism. And yet, the cowboy boot trend is still going strong. To be fair, Marant has always had a thing for sturdy Western soles, and this season, she seized the opportunity to update styles that have been repeat hitmakers for her brand. For example, her popular slouchy thigh-highs were reinforced with a polished metal toe cap, as were the fringed ankle boots.
Marant picked up the thread of all the most distinctive Southwestern leitmotifs as far as clothing, with denim shirting, blanket coats, and chunky knits that riffed on Pendleton-inflected patterns. The designer seemed to allude to Jarmusch in some of the oversize suiting, though the most obvious nod to the world of television and movies came in the series of Alexis Colby–worthy cocktail dresses that closed the show. Models bounded out for the final lap with blowouts that fell somewhere between Dallas and Paris (i.e., glamorous but still slightly undone), recalling the Waspy blondes who dominated American pop culture in the ’80s. It would have been nice for Marant’s casting to have reflected a more modern and diverse beauty in her homage to American style.
