It wasn’t long ago that Isabel Marant didn’t want to put on a show this week. Impacted by the alarming atmosphere, like everyone else in Paris—where Fashion Week currently resembles a poorly attended wedding, with rain—she thought she’d record a video and call it a season. “Then, I started to get used to the fact that this is going to be our new life,” she smiled, the bearer of bad news. “I’m afraid this is going to last for a little bit. So, I thought it was a good opportunity to start showing in a different way.” Going from zero to Donna Summer, Marant held on to her traditional Thursday-evening slot and staged within the Palais Royal what can best be described as a club night for happier times.
There, to the beat of a techno remix of “I Feel Love” (a track Rick Owens also sampled for his soundtrack earlier in the day), the dance collective (La)Horde went wild as Marant’s top girls advocated an upbeat evening-into-daywear wardrobe for an era when this amount of touching probably isn’t advisable off the runway. As she was the first to admit, our turbulent times hadn’t done much to cramp her style. “My silhouette is very recognizable. I cannot design another way. I don’t have to force myself because times are difficult.” That shape remained 1980s-centric, suspended somewhere between Saint-Germain and Manhattan, with extra sheen and shine.
The super casual was color-blocked with sporty Cindy Lauper clubwear. With every color segment of the show, the dancers’ outfits miraculously changed to the same color scheme. Marant said the wardrobe was occasion-less, perhaps a theme in our supposedly changing approach to dressing, what with the lack of anywhere to go other than where your laptop is. “It’s about giving confidence to women, making them feel good in what they’re wearing—that it’s easy and comfortable and doesn’t disguise you in something you’re not,” Marant said, echoing values borne out of our confinement closets. “The clothes have to become your personality.” Until now, though, those outfits haven’t exactly been synonymous with the skimpy hemlines and mutton sleeves that materialized on Marant’s runway.
Why tease the dance floor at this point in time? “For me, fashion is about enjoying life,” she explained. “It has to be positive. It’s a release of energy to people, putting bad vibes behind.” Her decision to stage a fashion show came with similar intentions. “We are all like, ‘Let’s bring down the tents!’” Marant said, emphasizing a desire to change the exclusivity of fashion shows. “We won’t have any seating [allocations]. People can just come and find their place.” Although the show was outside, that wasn’t a very good idea in the middle of a pandemic. Guests plonked themselves down next to you with zero respect for social distancing, not that this was Marant’s fault. “I want to open fashion to other worlds,” she continued. “I think it’s very sad that we designers have such energy and are doing such great things, but it’s only shown to fashion people.”
