A bold collection of designs from Canadian haute couture designer Kirsten Ley provided a dramatic opening to the runway shows in Paris. A recent move to Paris by this innovative designer appears to have inspired her creative processes further, with an exciting new range of highly structured pieces in a striking palette of blues and yellows.
Each of Kirsten Ley's hand-sewn, sculptural garments take hours to create and is a unique work of art. Silk, chiffon and leather garments combine soft, flowing fabrics and designs with strong lines and tailoring.
It was good to see German knitwear designer Annika Klaas back on the Global Fashion Collective runway, this time in Paris. After taking the top prize at the European Fashion Award (FASH) in 2018 and showing at Tokyo and Vancouver fashion weeks in 2019, the young designer also created a prototype of sneakers during a residency with Adidas. She's also been busy creating a strong Spring/Summer 2020 on-demand knitwear collection, included more of the knitted sneakers she made with Adidas.
As with Annika Klass's previous designs, this new collection was produced using a production process on Stoll ADF, German-made, computer-based knitting machines. Using these machines allows on demand production with orders produced the same day (the most complicated piece takes around three hours to knit) ensuring no overproduction and very little waste. And this year the designer has teamed up with artist Madeleine Mesam who creates beautiful prints for Annika's designs for their joint collection “An Archive of the Sunflower.”
Prolific Chinese designer and artist Niu Niu Chou of MrHuaMrsHua showed his versatility and creativity with a completely different collection than the showcase we'd seen in New York a few weeks earlier. This unisex brand highlights China's diverse cultural heritage and ethnic origins. The designer uses a combination of techniques including digital printing, embroidery and other traditional Chinese crafts, to showcase the beauty of the East, with a nod to Western pop art. His Paris collection of formal wear included elaborate tiered dresses with puffed sleeves in crepe, lace and beading.
