AnOther's Fashion Week Awards S/S15

From first cuff to last button, Fashion Week S/S15 has been a memorable ride, steeped in 70s nostalgia, optical prints, thigh-splits and the Orient. This season has pushed the boundaries of performance and the fashion show template as designers have found new and innovative ways to present their collections, from Gareth Pugh’s immersive film experience to Dries Van Noten’s collective sit-down. The 90s British Rave scene found itself in downtown New York for Marc by Marc Jacobs, while Rick Owens took us to the Russian ballet. Strong themes of make do and mend emerged in Paris, with Maison Martin Margiela and Prada championing the handmade aesthetic through their rugged edges and archive prints. Then there was Lanvin’s 125th anniversary celebrations, the Saint Laurent light show and Jean Paul Gaultier’s farewell pageant.

Here, AnOther gives out our S/S15 Fashion Show Awards...

Best Hair — Comme des Garçons
Styled by Julien D’Ys, who is an institution within a CDG show, theatrical hair stood up in otherworldly Colonial wigs, alongside bright red lips and dark eyes.

Best Make-up — Junya Watanabe 
London-based make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench sealed the lips of each model with clear tape for Junya Watanabe’s futuristic show. Thick eyelashes were coated with greasepaint, alongside blocks of red, white and blue eyeshadow, worn with avant-garde acrylic headpieces by Tomihiro Kono.

Best Florals — Maison Martin Margiela
Fashion week was in bloom this season, with floral prints cropping up throughout the shows. Notable mentions include Fendi’s leather cutwork and Alexander McQueen’s orchids, but Maison Martin Margiela wins for the 1940s Japanese archive prints turned delicately into dresses, worn with daisy-painted leather jackets and matching acetate glasses.

"Fashion week was in bloom this season"

Best Millinery — Gareth Pugh
Inspired by the rituals and myth of British folklore, Pugh wins the award for his spectacular papier-mâché steer skulls, spikes and conical hats, which echoed corn dollies, harvestry and pagan tradition.

Best Footwear — Louis Vuitton
Projected across LED light screens, Louis Vuitton teamed velvet bralets and knitted mini-dresses with suede and leather boots in blue and burgundy. With a distinct sculptural block heel, they are set to be the most coveted shoe of S/S15.

Best Invite — Dries Van Noten
Those attending the Dries Van Noten show received their invitation in a delightful little box of greenery, a clue to the moss-coated catwalk designed by Argentinean artist Alexandra Keyayoglou that models eventually used as a seat for the show.

Best Accessory — Céline’s porcelain hands
Hands cast in porcelain provided a signature surrealist touch to the Céline show, pinned neatly to coat collars — a literal nod to Phoebe Philo’s delicate touch.

Best Newcomer — Jacquemus
Candy stripes and beach hues took us on a summer holiday for Jacquemus S/S15, packed with a joie de vivre attitude and fearless youth spirit. A strong narrative runs through each collection, and we look forward to seeing where the Jacquemus girl travels next.

Best Casting — VETEMENTS
“Character faces, real girls,” explains the mysterious voice of the VETEMENTS team. “Most of casting was done internally by our intern through facebook and occasional parties in Paris and London.” The hand-picked cast was incredibly cool and well-considered, and included stylist Lotta Volkova Adam.

Best Set — Prada
Prada’s impressive parma-violet sand dunes win for best set, bringing the haze of the Arizona desert to Milan.

Best Buttons — Christian Dior
Christan Dior’s beautiful fabric-covered buttons were an opulent finish to Raf Simons’ sculptural play on regency tailoring, proving that small details still make a big impression.

Best Opening — Gemma Ward
Retired model Gemma Ward made a surprise comeback this season, opening the Prada show in Milan after a seven-year hiatus. A piece of unexpected casting genius, a question mark now hangs over her next move.

Best Interactive Show — Marc Jacobs
Each member of the audience was given a set of Beats by Dre headphones at Marc Jacobs, and listened to a peculiar narrative as models wove in and out of a giant pink house. “We wanted to add another dimension to the traditional soundtrack,” said Jacobs.

Best Soundtrack — Céline
A soundtrack can make or break a show, and This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush was the perfect inspiration for and accompianment to Phoebe Philo's poetic collection.

Best Performance — Gareth Pugh
Pugh’s immersive performance re-wrote the template for the age-old fashion show with a climactic dance, choreographed by Wayne McGregor, played out admist smoke and flashing lights in three different film installations projected across eight screens.

Most Nostalgic — Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier’s final ready-to-wear collection was a delightful trip down memory lane, with a eurotrash-esqe pageant that referenced Carine Roitfield, Suzy Menkes and Grace Coddington. It embodied the eternally tongue-in-cheek spirit of Gaultier, complete with a conical bra.

Best Venue — Louis Vuitton
The show was set within the long-awaited Fondation Louis Vuitton on Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi in Paris, designed by esteemed architect Frank Gehry. The venue, a futuristic glass and steel structure stretching 126 square foot, is set to open its doors officially in October.

Most Unusual Source of Inspiration — Rick Owens
The architectural collection was inspired the explicit Diaghilev tale, L'Après-Midi d'un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun). The 1912 ballet choreographed by the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky is an erotic fable which climaxes in a male faun ejaculating onstage following a high-charged dance with a group of female nymphs.

Best Event — Marni Flower Market
Alongside their S/S15 show, Marni celebrated its twentieth anniversy with a colourful flower market along the Rotonda della Besana, stocked up with seeds, bulbs, tools and bouquets.

Text by Mhairi Graham