The Craziest Designs at Paris Fashion Week

   For many working in the fashion industry, predicting next year’s hottest trends usually begins with seeing what the recurring motifs are during catwalk season and various International Fashion Weeks. However, those looking for any inspiration about what to report from this year’s Paris Fashion Week must have been left flabbergasted by some of the most avant garde and unwearable clothes in recent memory – it is unlikely that a large percentage of the designs on display will trickle down to the high street like they have done in recent years. Here are some of the most eccentric and, frankly, most ludicrous items that were on display:

Hula Hoop Bags

Chanel has, during its lifetime, established itself as a brand synonymous with simple and classy sophistication and elegance. Yet, this year, the brand has tried to undo much of their own good work with perhaps the most preposterous bag ever to grace a catwalk. Two large Hula-hoops, which have a height of about three foot, form the basis of the bag with material strapped across the mid-way point. That the bag is so large it would be impossible to carry underarm without it draping the floor, the design seems to represent some type of empty artistic statement rather than a real attempt at creating a bag.

Chanel’s Jeans Dress

   Chanel further attempted to deconstruct their own image with a shapeless denim dress which featured detailing to make it look like a back of a pair of jeans rather than a designer dress. Cartoon-like and unflattering to the model who strutted down the cat-walk in the ridiculous number.

Celine’s Fuzzy Shoes

   Shoes, by their very nature, share a close proximity to the floor. Thus the accepted logic of most shoe designers is that footwear should be made in a durable and practical fashion. Chloe have decided to try and suggest otherwise with their new pointed shoes made out of a fuzzy, felt like material. The worst thing about the item, aside from material, is the fact that Chloe have decided that the shoe should be made in the most garish shade of yellow possible rendering them uncomplimentary to any other item of clothing imaginable.

Alena Perminova’s Geometric Outfit

   Attending the Chloe show in one of the most unusual ensembles ever conceived, one that hinted at Saul Bass graphic designs and H.R. Geiger surrealism rather than fashion, was Elena Perminova. Whereas the term “shaped dress” usually refers to tailored styles with patterns which are meant to flatter the wearer, Perminova’s outfit consisted of a more geometric design. Patterned in bright reds and oranges with black trim, the outfit featured a series of diagonal and horizontal lines all interlocking and all trying to cause something of an eyesore. The shape was somewhere between a short-sleeved poncho attached to three quarter length trousers with a knee length skirt added on making it perhaps the most bizarre item of clothing a human being has ever worn by choice.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s Pop Icons

   An array of models dressed as the likes of Boy George and David Bowie strolled up and down the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier’s fashion show presumably as homage to the flamboyant pop stars that influenced him. Instead, the show looked like a series of bad Halloween costumes.

Keith is a fashion writer who suggests investing in handbags rather than the Hula Hoop style on display this year!