Looks Fashion News

On the penultimate day of shows, as guests entered the airy Carreau du Temple, now enveloped in a lush shade of chartreuse, no one was betraying fashion fatigue. Quite the opposite. The sun was out once again—the most pleasant stretch of weather through fall PFW in recent memory—and some megastars were filling the Zimmermann front row. Among them Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Chastain, singer Celeste, and Naomi Watts, who was seated beside Love Story’s Leila George—both in chic daywear as themselves rather than their characters, Jackie O. and Kelly Klein. Other women in the crowd arrived in looks that were flowy, floral, and garden-party ready. If there is always something a little escapist here, Zimmermann unfailingly asserts its polish and prettiness as though honoring a kind of pledge.

Backstage, Nicky Zimmermann explained how she wanted to channel the trailblazing spirit of Australian women in the 1920s, naming novelist Miles Franklin; cross-country motorists Kathleen Howell and Jean Robertson; and her own grandmother, who would tell stories of being a beach lifeguard in her late teens. None of them needed to have crossed paths—the designer had assembled her own sorority.

“I think they found their strength doing all these things,” she said, facing a mood board of photos of these women among others, like a female cricket team standing arm in arm. “They may have been going through a terrible time, but they were also joyous.”

One century later, there was stylistic conviction and unapologetic femininity emanating from this lineup, whether boho power dressing; boudoir-inspired gowns boasting layers of lingerie; body-grazing knitwear in autumnal hues; or the frothier numbers for which the brand is known. The opening look was an asymmetric dress seemingly assembled from multiple silk scarves tied into place—their sepia-tinged illustrations as though from geographic books of yore. Was that a koala? A platypus? “We can’t help ourselves,” Nicky said with a hearty laugh. If cricket uniforms given an haute makeover were highly specific (see the flounced skirts in striped cotton drill and emblazoned jumpers and cable-knit socks), the cocktail party options were abundant. (A cropped champagne tuxedo jacket and trousers spliced with delicate lace gave chic nonchalance.)

The brand has ateliers in Sydney and Paris, and Nicky said they complement each other more and more. One can imagine them in constant communication over the flared silhouettes and patent leather block-heel loafers as much as the surface treatments—noticeably more amplified this season—and velvet wedge slippers.

A minor drama occurred that does not reflect in these photos but is worth sharing: Toward the latter part of the show, one of the model’s silk scarf elements detached and floated down to the runway. It was only during the finale that one of her peers daringly, deftly reached down and plucked it from the floor, eliminating both the visual distraction and walking hazard. She received a round of applause from the famous-faced front row. Would Winfrey have picked up the scarf? “I would have picked up the scarf,” she exclaimed while exiting the venue. “I was thinking, Who could do it and not miss their stride? That one girl was fantastic!” The Zimmermann sorority spirit in action.