Paris Fashion Week A/W14 Words

Anenomes n. This delicate flower, recognisable by its dark coloured centre, appears in March, making it a popular choice for Paris Fashion Week bouquets and arrangements. Various colours of the flower were spotted throughout the week, notably at the Repossi A/W14 collection launch held at Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume. In Greek, anemone means "daughter of the wind". The Metamorphoses of Ovid tells that the plant was created by the goddess Venus when she sprinkled nectar on the blood of her dead lover Adonis.

"A beautiful sunshine moment happened during Nicolas Ghesquière's debut for Louis Vuitton, when sun streamed through the slats at the showspace, creating sun stripes on the looks"

Family a. One of the most heart-warming moments came backstage at Céline where designer Phoebe Philo was joined by her husband Max Wigram and two of their three children. When Philo took the role five years ago, she requested the French house's studio and headquarters were moved to London so she could be near her family.

Knots a. Knots were a key part of a number of collections in Paris. At Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo knotted the arms of jumpers to create unusual shapes that sat away from the body. A simpler use of knots was seen at Stella McCartney – oversized sweater dresses in brown and grey featured knotted shoulder details. Perhaps this is a sign that, come autumn, we will all be tying our jumpers around our waists and shoulders.

Sunshine n. At the start of the A/W14 shows in New York, we were wrapped in countless layers, fighting off minus degrees chills. Only a few weeks later, Paris gave us glorious sunshine which meant that, for some shows, one could sport a light coat. A sunshine moment happened during Nicolas Ghesquière's debut for Louis Vuitton, when sun streamed through the slats at the showspace, creating beautiful sun stripes on the looks. It was a moment nobody could have planned.

Rihanna n. The singer made countless appearances. Posing with a shopping trolley at the Chanel Shopping Center; arriving 40 minutes late for Miu Miu and sitting next to Lupita Nyongo; and, perhaps most suprisingly, sitting front row at Comme des Garçons.

John Baldessari n. It's always interesting to see a catalogue created for a show, usually left on one's seat. Phoebe Philo has done one every season for Céline since her debut but this season chose not to. Luckily, Hedi Slimane offered up a clever book to accompany his Saint Laurent collection, featuring the work of John Baldesaari. 

Shopping Center n. Without a doubt, one of the biggest moments of the season came on Monday morning when Karl Lagerfled opened the doors of his a 139,930-square-foot Chanel Shopping Center, under the arches of the Grand Palais. It was very clever. Guests were given just enough time to browse the products (Rue Cambon Jambon etc) and whip themselves into a frenzy (and helping to fill Instagram feeds with snaps of their favourite displays). After watching models parade around the supermarket, collecting their chosen items, an announcement was made encouraging everyone to enjoy complimentary goods (or maybe it was just fruit and veg.?...) and chaos quickly ensued, with the pièce de résistance, and ultimate prize, a CHANEL welcome mat. After everyone had gathered their goods and plenty of photographs and films had been captured of extreme I-NEED-THAT-CHANEL behaviour, security guards then explained to disgruntled looters that the items were to be returned on the way out. Genius.

Vacuum packed a. One of the highlights of the Chanel collection was the vacuum packed Chanel handbags. Later, the technique was seen in another guise at Iris van Herpen where the designer chose to vacuum pack her models in an installation created in collaboration with Belgian artist Lawrence Malstaf.

Corn rows n. Plaits have been seen at various shows throughout the season – MBMJ, Simone Rocha, Fendi – but the corn rows at Alexander McQueen, created by Guido Palau and his team, were arguably the most standout. Corn rows can be traced back to the Stone Ages and are created by plaiting the hair tight and close to the head. Corn rows featured in the S/S12 Alexander Mcqueen show but what made the style new for A/W14 was the long strands of hair pulled out at both sides.

Hardware n. Hardware, particularly for accessories, is a key trend and was spotted at Givenchy (bag zips), Balenciaga (zip detail on trousers and coats) and Comme des Garçons (rivets and buckles on shoes). At Alexander Mcqueen, the show's key motif – an acorn – featured on a metal clutch bag. Possibly one of the heaviest clutch bags we've ever held.

Text by Laura Bradley