Spring-Summer 23 Style Focus : Fluidity and lightness at the heart of the season The 13 April 2022 - Spring-Summer 23 - Fabrics - Leather - Première Vision Paris

Sports style-codes are moving away from cottony aspects and exploring new compositions. Lyocells, and cellulosics in general – today available in bio-sourced versions – lend a soft, cuddly feel. Zip-up sweatshirts, cut generously full and elongated, borrow a page from spring blousons and grow notably more supple, enveloping us in their deliciously soft thickness. These same fabric blends can also work for baggy shorts with high, gathered waists and cropped hoodies that crack open the door to more refined and feminine loungewear.

To go with these sweats, ribs and jerseys are also moving away from a cottony look to embrace a more velvety feel thanks to artificial blends and recycled polyamides. These are as fine as can be, to create tops like second-skins. Accentuating the sensuality is a decided penchant for transparency. Net and mesh knits move beyond sports uses, and are updated in enlarged versions, with new decorative patterns like flowers or fresh-looking geometrics. The spring-summer 23 season also signals the return of fantasy to knits, which lends a certain femininity to looks. T-shirts go in for draping and asymmetry, layered every which way, in optical-white shades, or bleached acid neons. Tees are embellished with lace, hemstitching and openwork jacquards. They can also incorporate pleats, also featured on dresses and tops, reflecting a successful cross between deluxe sports apparel and more feminine casual wear.

Daring and determined, knits rise squarely to the ranks of the season’s must-have fabrics this season… and are quite ready to step in for wovens. How? By growing denser to provide more innovative volumes. Firmly set knits can offer a solid stability to garments. The result is structured knitwear ensembles – pants and bra-tops, or jumpsuits with cut-outs – for increasingly city uses. Knits double-down on their dynamic quality by turning to stretch blends, with surfaces bedecked in decorative piqués, ribbings and ottomans. Compact and energetic double-face knits can be used for dresses and long slit-skirt/cropped-top combos, for a graphic and impeccable line.

Vaporous, ultra-puffy dresses thrive on a new fullness with fluttery, transparent fabrics. These are fabrics with a technical influence, made from recycled or bio-sourced polyamide and polyester, adorned on the surface with tiny rippling waves or delicate and controlled wrinklings. When worked in a refreshed or acidic pastel, the bottom of a dress can be teamed with a featherweight, second-skin knit, providing a fresh update to bi-material designs. These fabrics can also be used for light jackets or parkas ceaselessly unfurling like coloured layers scattered in the wind. Clothes to be layered and multiplied endlessly, almost like a skin to be shed. They can also be embellished with light iridescent coatings, like the jumpsuits of F1 drivers, ready to be put to more glamorous use when teamed with a sky-high pair of heels.

Counterbalancing the allure of light and sensual second-skin knits, an appetite for fabrics with a cottony appearance emerges. Here again, a sensory element is essential, with crisp or rubbery handles that can also convey a snapping, even crackling musicality. Still influenced by sports, innovative fabrics feature sanded micro-grains, dry as paper, which can be used for pants. When long and full, these go perfectly with a body-hugging dress in draped mesh. For tops and bodysuits, looks favour asymmetry and cut-out details on necklines and shoulders, offsetting peach-skin artificial fabrics with emerised handles. These smooth surfaces come in a range of summery pastels, for versatile items right for both day and night.