Paris — Paris Fashion Week Spring 2023 will feature 105 brands over nine days, including the debuts of these six designers.

Anna October

Six months after fleeing to Paris in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, designer Anna Oktober is back in Kyiv to put the finishing touches on her Spring 2023 collection, which debuts on Friday.

To summarize her state of mind, October recalled the words of British poet Vita Sackville-West.

In that spirit, she described the collection as “Anna’s Garden of Joy.” This is her tribute to the desolate land she planned to turn into her garden just before the conflict erupted.

Flowers and plants were transformed into crisp, flirtatious layers and hand-woven elements inspired by antique window dressings she found in the archives of the Ivan Honcher Museum of Ethnography in Kyiv.

“I like the fact that it’s original [and] These roots have a touch of my culture and identity,” says October, who hails from the southeastern Ukraine town of Zaporizhia, where he studied tailoring and pattern cutting before moving to Odessa and enrolling at the prestigious Grekov Art School. .

October said her wider focus is on cementing her 12-year-old brand’s reputation as a “date-ready brand.” tackles this challenge, seeing clothing as “a way to please yourself visually.”

A finalist for the 2014 LVMH Prize for Young Designers, the brand is now sold to over 30 retailers worldwide, including Ssense, Moda Operandi, Galeries Lafayette and 24S. Up to €800 for her more elaborate dresses.

Moving forward, she wants to continue splitting her time between Kyiv and Paris, where she planned to move to facilitate the international expansion of her brand.

Bute Solanes

Newly loved couples may discuss living arrangements and getting pets. A conversation between French designer Constance Boutet and Spanish photographer José-Maria Solanes soon turned into launching her fashion label together.

“I was a little frustrated that I didn’t have [my own] brand. A graduate of Esmode and Institut français de la mode, Bouté goes by the name “Coco” to distinguish it from her previous label of the same name, which focused on printed silk shirts. , launched in 2011 and closed in 2015.

“There’s nothing more thrilling than adding another heart to the mix,” she added.

Cue Boutet Solanes, who takes a genderless approach, says she’s “a bit geeky and single-minded and passionate about what she does,” as both are more interested in “dressing people up than defining femininity.” Something for customers who imagine that they are always interested in ”

Bute said the brand’s aesthetic was inspired by muses such as Mia Farrow from “Alice,” Sigourney Weaver from “Gorillaz in the Mist,” and Tilda Swinton. “[They] It has a sense of freedom and independence and is self-sufficient,” she said. “They enjoy their time and connect with themselves. They’re strong that way.”

The fourth collection focuses on stones and shapes encrusted with stone and mineral-inspired detail, from luminous nods to mica inclusions, enough to “store special finds.” Up to pocket size, Bute agrees with her own penchant for collecting stones and minerals. she is out

Thursday’s Spring 2023 presentation utilizes live models and cinematic projections of the collection to imagine set-ups inspired by archaeological sites to “present what’s unearthed” this season.

Florentina Leitner

Florentina Leitner will “bring Austria to Paris” with her first physical presentation on October 2nd at the cultural and creative hub 3537.

Trained at Vienna’s Fashion Institute Hetzendorf, which specializes in knitwear, and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, she landed her first job at the Dries Van Noten studio when her surreal graduation collection began to gain traction. calmed down.

“After about four months, the media and stores started asking if we could buy it. [it]'” she told WWD. “So the question was, should I try it or should I stay in this safer environment with a cool design job?”

She jumped in February 2021 and hasn’t looked back since.

Celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Lady Gaga, Charlie XCX and Sita Abellan have seen her floral catsuits and fluffy gorilla knit coats in op art swirls, or made in collaboration with Belgian eyewear brand Komono. They flocked to pointy, melty sunglasses. “I always liked the ‘full look’ approach in Antwerp,” said Leitner.

Leitner has graced the opening of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring 2021, having been invited to digitally showcase her work on New York and London Fashion Week platforms. Next in Paris, she will present her fourth production, titled “Oh, Dear!”

The deer print featured in the collection was created in collaboration with Dutch artist and graphic designer Lop van Miello. Leitner also reintroduces knitwear, one of her specialties but which had been left out during her apprenticeship at the Royal College. school.

Retail prices on the label range from €260 for sunglasses to €500 for a silk slip dress and up to €1,000 for a furry coat with 3D flowers made from plush specialist Steiff’s famous “teddy bear” mohair. The range is up to

Paula Canovas Del Vas

For 2022 LVMH Prize semi-finalist Paula Canovas del Vas, presenting her collection on Thursday’s official Paris Fashion Week schedule is a testament to her mystical way of life.

“Interestingly, it all started in Paris,” said the Spanish-born, London-based Central Saint Martins graduate.

After graduating in 2018, she was “so poor” when the head of the master’s program introduced her to Vittoria Mataresse, director of the Palais de Tokyo. The resulting exhibition caught the eye of Kanye West, a three-year consulting tour that saw Canovas del Vas work on Easy, Sunday Service, and even West’s short film directed by Spike Jonze. This led to a stint.

She describes herself as “very product-focused,” accenting even the most striking designs, such as her buzzy horn shoes, with comfort. There are 35 stockers, including Ssense, Browns in London and Maxfield in Los Angeles.

For her Paris debut, she invited guests at a presentation at the Instituto Cervantes Cultural Center to feature Peter Greenaway’s 1989 film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and artist Sophie Calle’s monochromatic diet.

Canovas del Vas is “learning that repetition is also important,” so expect more of her signature. This includes her sandals version of her Diablo shoes. Her clothes are “focused on helping women just feel comfortable. [and] Thanks to strategically placed ripcords that shape the proportions and volume.

She hopes people will feel the light after experiencing her universe, but says, “At the end of the day, we’re an industry that creates products and experiences. Whether you take them on a journey or what kind of experiences they have is up to fate,” she concludes.

Rohan

“Design is the only thing I’m good at,” says Chinese designer Ruohan Nie, but it took a twist of fate to make it to Wednesday’s debut presentation at Paris Fashion Week.

A 2020 graduate of the Parsons School of Design, she entered the China Institute Fashion Design Competition while working for TriBeCa’s luxury multi-brand retailer La Garçonne. This competition led me to meet Tasha Liu, founder of Fashion Retailer and Emerging Talent Support. Program Labelhood, and Coco Wang, director of marketing and communications for Lane Crawford.

“[If they] Nie, who came up with the fall 2021 mini collection, has been sold to eight retailers in China.

The designer then returned to Shanghai to work on the Spring 2022 collection and signed with the Paris-based Boon showroom as an international distributor.

The brand has around 23 points of sale domestically and 6 points of sale internationally, with prices ranging from the highest price of €300 to €1,200 for models in craft-intensive or laser-cut textiles. .

Ruohan’s “Effortlessly Chic Contemporary Minimalism” caught the attention of entrepreneur Wendy Yu and the Yu Prize jury, while Nie won the 2022 Creative Impact Award and was featured in the French Fashion Federation. .

For the Spring 2023 collection, Knee was inspired by “wax as a medium” and candles. “The first image that came to my mind was Renaissance painters painting with candles. [working] In caves and churches, in very dim lighting,” she said, explaining how she translated the fresco technique into the textile version.

Nie is cautious about rapidly expanding her category, including accessories, which were first introduced in spring 2022.

“Especially in the age of social media, it’s important to have a lifestyle with clothes [because] Everyone wants to know where and on what occasion the outfit fits,” she said.

Precia

French designer Vincent Garnier Plessia told WWD after his 2021 debut, “I can’t help it. I have to create.” , he launched Preciat, named after his mother’s maiden name.

His Spring 2023 collection, which will be unveiled Tuesday at 4pm, will mark his first schedule slot at Paris Fashion Week.The spirit is “Marilyn Monroe [meeting] 1950s Iggy Pop,” he said.

“I love the old Hollywood charm,” he explained. “It was a year in which women’s creativity blossomed, but it was also very oppressive.” I’m attracted to

Their influence is distilled in a variety of ways, including the use of corsets and fragile, film-like tights as symbols of change. It feels like a society that needs to be nurtured.

Presciatto’s designs are craft-intensive, which is reflected in the pricing of the range. Knit and jersey dresses retail from around €600, while double-coloured leather jackets with removable sleeves sell for €1,500. and more if you need extra sleeves.

His bespoke designs start at €12,000 for those who want to exceed the stock of H.Lorenzo and the edgy Paris-based fashion platform La Collection Particulière.

Notable faces who have used Garnier-Preciatte for red carpet looks include American model Alton Mason’s appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in a strong shouldered jumpsuit and Charlotte Rampling’s cocoon. He wore a vintage opera coat.

The newest member to join the Presiat clan is Megan Thee Stallion. A clip of her strutting in her black-and-white gothic couture gown in her “Ungrateful” video garnered rave comments.