In Paris, spotlight on young designers with Niccolò Pasqualetti, Duran Lantink and Ottolinger

While Paris Fashion Week dedicated to women’s ready-to-wear is almost coming to an end, it continues to hold some nice surprises. On Sunday, she highlighted in particular a series of young brands, which are resisting despite the difficult economic situation, seducing with their boundless creativity. Starting with Niccolò Pasqualetti, who debuts on the podiums of the capital, followed by Duran Lantink and Ottolinger.

Niccolò Pasqualetti, who took his first steps in the official Parisian calendar on Sunday, opened the day with a very beautiful collection via a subtly perverted chic wardrobe, where everything is impeccably cut and constructed, injected here and there with a few good ideas. Clothes are never what they seem at first glance. Thus, the classic pleated rotating skirt is asymmetrical and mixes wide and fine pleats. It can also be worn as an off-the-shoulder top or is available as a dress cut from linen. A pretty bodice remains unfinished in the back, with just a triangle of raw-edged fabric.

Simple canvas pants change their appearance depending on whether they are covered with plastic or embroidered black tulle over-pants. The large shirt dresses take on more dimensions, fitting into several pieces, one inside the other. A vest made of pearls is worn like a bib over a white shirt. The large chain, which runs through certain garments including this fine knit, can be removed and worn as a necklace. The designer also offers a new variation, in white cotton, of his iconic skirt-pants, the front of which is cut horizontally to form a skirt.

“I work with normal fabrics in a couture spirit. I often start with classic models, but with unusual constructions, asymmetries, deconstructions, details in order to offer a very, very wide range with unique pieces. They are often ambiguous, not immediately identifiable”, explains the designer, who is launching for the occasion his first collection of jewelry created from natural materials, inspired by the sculptures of Jean Arp.

Born in Tuscany, in San Miniato, where he has his workshop with all-Italian production, Niccolò Pasqualetti (29 years old) followed a course in media arts and fashion at the University of Venice, then a Master’s degree at the school of fashion Central Sant Martins in London, while working for a year as an assistant at The Row. He then moved to Paris to join Loewe, where he worked for three years before diving into the deep end by creating his own brand in 2021.

“At first, it was art that attracted me, the idea of ​​the image, the colors, the aesthetics. Then I needed to have a personal story, where I could express myself – even, by creating pieces that I could not find on the market, I always start from a personal memory, from the somewhat traditional style of my parents”, concludes the stylist who seems to have a bright future after this. first successful attempt.

Change of register at Duran Lantik, which once again immerses us in its wacky and offbeat universe, with resolutely playful fashion, and with a surprise guest, the top model Naomi Campbell, who closes this colorful show with panache. For his third show in the official calendar, the Dutch designer continues his work around the shape via plump volumes redefining silhouettes with soft curves.

Knee or elbow pads are incorporated into stretch suits, like strange bumps growing here and there. The breasts swell and rise like shells towards the sky in balconette bras or jackets cropped. The shoulders of a floral jersey rise above the ears. Turbans wrap around abnormally oblong heads for a Queen of Sheba look. Sometimes, this turban is replaced by an oval handbag, the handle of which is fixed under the chin.

For next summer, the designer is also having fun playing with optical effects, in particular through a series of tight-fitting pieces with fine red and white stripes, which telescope horizontally, vertically or diagonally. He makes playsuits in the style of retro swimsuits with built-in buoys on the hips. Among the other winks and finds of the season, swimming goggles in place of sunglasses, Napoleon-style cocked hats, slips incorporated into petticoats from which they protrude, or even these seat covers made of wooden beads, of which it is used to make dresses and miniskirts.

Everything is enhanced by sumptuous silver jewelry with tribal influences, which embraces the body. They are created by the American artist Kris Ruhs, best known for creating the image of the Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como.

See the parade

We breathe the same breath of fresh creative air at Ottolinger, which is delivering an energetic collection for next summer, reconnecting with the experimental DNA of the brand, after having flirted for two seasons with a more formal register. We find, in fact, the organic aesthetic dear to the two Swiss designers Cosima Gadient and Christa Bösch, as well as the work on the material and the effects of laces, strips and other trains in dresses or sweater-coats frayed to tatters. Without forgetting the set of cutouts, which accentuates this chaotic style.

From the depths of Switzerland, the two designers dream of vacations, sun and long beaches as far as the horizon can go next summer. They bring their models out of the mouth of a huge shark, like the heroines of a blockbuster who survived the catastrophe. With their perfectly brushed wavy hair, their huge glasses, and their tight-fitting neoprene surfer outfits, you’d think they came straight out of the series “Baywatch”.