Day 2
A full schedule today, starting with a brand I’ve covered extensively, Botter. More on them next. Mame Kurogouchi was a huge surprise. Her clothes this season are based on Japanese basket weaving. Lecourt Mansion held a cocktail party at 3 pm, giving a lot of fashion press a moment to sit down for the first time that day. Anrealage gave us an audio experience along with their show that reconsidered the grammar of patchwork, and as an audiophile, I was a fan of this runway experience. Koché’s Google collaboration asked us “Do Hoodies Dream?” a reference to the Philip K Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? We ended our day with Alice Vaillant’s runway show - I interviewed her in a showroom six months ago, and now she’s hosting her first runway show in Paris, a huge step forward.
Botter is a Caribbean-inspired brand, using the inspiration of the sea and sea life to tell beautiful and nuanced stories through clothing. Six months ago, they gave me access to film backstage for their Fall 2022 collection and I was incredibly impressed with their work. This season, when I went backstage, I was greeted with more of Botter’s creativity and saw their latest brilliant idea. In an attempt to bring water to the runway, Botter created water orbs that were suspended at the models’ hands. The orbs were made using enlarged condoms, a chemical-free colorant, and tape to create this great visual effect. Among other great ideas this season like water shoes made of resin and bags made of ice, it really was the condom hands that created a huge buzz.