Ann Demeulemeester FW20 Straddles Romance and Darkness
Ominous yet ethereal.
Starkness, darkness, and a subtle ethereal spirit — these were the austere ingredients of Ann Demeulemeester’s Fall/Winter 2020 runway show at Paris Fashion Week on Friday. And white, black, and brown were virtually the sole colors throughout the latest collection dreamed up by creative director Sébastien Meunier, save a surprise metallic or soft pink dashed in here and there.
Was it all leaning romantic or was it actually skewing more ominous? Based on Meunier’s scattered fabric and silhouette plays, the answer seems to simply lie somewhere in the in-between.
The pieces were generally practical overall, spanning pea coats, leather jackets and relaxed suiting and trousers, making their interchangeability (rather than their innovation) the key appeal of each look. Sheer tops, lacy blazers and foiled leaf halos set a delicate tone, but the underlying drama was still maximized by the persistence for black-on-black styling. Splashes of velvet, crochet and shearling, meanwhile, helped to differentiate the subdued palette, amping up the texture variety through items like fuzzy cardigans and heavy coats.
See the full FW20 collection now by browsing the gallery above.
For more from Paris Fashion Week, check out Junya Watanabe’s take on the “retro uniform” FW20.
