Volumes And Layers Make A Statement On The Streets Of Paris Fashion Week |

This season’s street-style stars offer a new take on spring layers and sculptural volumes.

Those well-versed with the hallmark eras of fashion will be familiar with Rei Kawakubo’s seminal collections for Comme des Garçons in the 1980s, which featured elaborate shapes and layers, often called the “post-atomic” or “bag lady” look. Famed street-style photographer Bill Cunningham even compared the outlandish silhouettes to the garb of medieval women.

In contrast to the elegant lines or even body-conscious outfits often preferred these days, it seems that on the streets of Paris during the Fall 2023 fashion week, show-goers are opting instead for imperfect, avant-garde shapes and maximalist layers. Instead of accentuating your figure, these otherworldly ensembles use bodies instead as a blank canvas to build architectural looks on.

As it often happens, this street-style trend mirrors what has been happening on the runway, starting with the likes of Marc Jacobs in New York, whose collections have become uncharacteristically more expressive and off-kilter. Meanwhile, designers like Erdem in London opted for a historical nod, which resulted in a bright, neo-romantic collection full of loudly puffed sleeves and skirts.

On the Paris catwalks, Thom Browne showed a billowing collection of Napoleonic ensembles, led by Gwendoline Christie who wore a gilded oversized coat over red gloves and a ruched Elizabethan collar. Balenciaga sent out a lineup of dystopian silhouettes with Demna Gvasalia’s signature exaggerated sleeves.

The street-style stars similarly opted for the same bold volumes and layers. Even fashion week staples like Tina Leung appeared in flowing ruched capes layered over jeans, while Michèle Lamy dawned her yellow snakeskin jacket with pointed shoulders over a draped top and abstract leather bottoms.

However way volumes and layers can be interpreted, the style signals fashion’s undying ability to capture fantasy and playfulness. See the best street-style looks below: