Will Isabel Marant's new collection make you want to do Eighties style in 2019?
With stonewashed denim, power shoulders and Lamé amongst its fashion signatures, the Eighties has earned a reputation as the decade which style forgot. But at Paris fashion week on Thursday night, Isabel Marant sought to reframe those wrongs with a collection which will have cool Parisian women of today wearing those classic tropes with easy insouciance.
In a marquee decked out in disco style complete with tinsel streamers, Marant’s unveiled her 50-look collection complete with a soundtrack that included Donna Summer’s Bad Girls. Shamelessly faithful iterations of pieces which usually prompt noses to wrinkle came out one by one, or sometimes all in a single outfit; an oversize patchwork and distressed denim jacket was slouched over a Lamé playsuit; a starched white wide-shouldered denim gilet was worn with a co-ordinating boiler suit (very Bonnie Barstow in Knight Rider) while harem trousers with crop tops had something of the Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan about them.
The simple outfit equation of jeans and a nice top was also given a revamp in the spirit of ‘bad’ taste made cool as carrot-legged, high-waisted ‘Mom’ styles were paired with disco- ball batwing tops. Meanwhile, the slouchy white leather knee boots worn by Kaia Gerber with a glittery jumper dress look set to be a key buy.
Marant often nods to Eighties proportions in her clothes, but there is a usually a strong globetrotting, boho element, here this was dialed down in favour of glitz and a palette of sugary baby blues and pinks.
She is not the first designer this season to mine the exuberance and excess of the decade. In New York, Escada- one of the standout labels of the Eighties- was revived under new creative director Niall Sloan with clashing jewel colours, exaggerated shoulders and Pretty Woman polka dots. In London, Emilia Wickstead riffed on Working Girl suiting and Preen showed Lady Di-like puff-shouldered party dresses. Just before the Isabel Marant show, streetwear label Off White also showed bleached denim and tulle ballskirts.
Don't fear it too much though, the new take on Eighties dressing comes with a more relaxed finish than the era of perms and blue eye shadow. Isabel Marant, who is known for her effortless Parisian style, took her bow in a slouchy denim jacket and pair of skintight silver leggings but she was barefaced with her hair in a elegantly scruffy bun. A poster woman for Eighties style the 2019 way.
