Paris showcases craftsmanship and innovation at Christopher Esber and CFCL

Paris Fashion Week, dedicated to ready-to-wear, drew to a close in Paris on Tuesday under brilliant sunshine. Designers from all backgrounds set about rethinking the women’s wardrobe in a contemporary vein, each with their own vision.

Two brands stood out on the final day: the Australian label Christopher Esber, which delights in subverting the codes of womenswear with tailoring elements that fuse structured silhouettes and fluid drapery, and the Japanese brand CFCL, which reinterprets femininity through extraordinary knitwear craftsmanship.

See fashion show

Christopher Esber welcomed guests at the Australian Embassy to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the eponymous brand, unveiling a compelling collection brimming with ideas and a genuine exploration of materials. The Lebanese-born Australian designer delighted in reimagining the staples of the women’s wardrobe and the office uniform, transporting them to the sunlit shores of a distant island.

An austere navy coat, buttoned to the neck, is sharply slit up the left leg to the top of the thigh, as if ripped. Floating organza panels are spliced onto trousers. The straight skirt of a classic suit gains a drawstring waist, while a hood sprouts from the back of the jacket. Another look turns bright red and trades the skirt for mini shorts.

The wardrobe seemed to set sail with colourful hoodies worn against the skin, bearing across the front the lapels of a classic jacket, paired with baggy trousers and jewelled belts. Shells, buttons, pearls and pieces of wood were inserted into knits to create tops and dresses in textured materials or 3D mosaics. Small wooden tubes were used as fastenings or fringes in draped outfits. Elastic fabric punctuated with buttons or medallions takes on the look of a bath towel wrapped around the body as a strapless dress.

Winner of the 2024 ANDAM Grand Prize, Christopher Esber made his official debut on the presentations calendar in September 2023, staging his first Paris catwalk show a year later. His women’s ready-to-wear brand, founded in Sydney in 2010, is distributed through 155 multi-brand retailers, primarily across Europe — in the UK, Italy (including Antonia) and France, where it has been stocked at Printemps and La Samaritaine — as well as in the United States.

Positioned in the accessible “advanced contemporary” segment, the brand appeals with its creative offerings.

“It’s important to have your own point of view, especially in today’s highly competitive market. People are mostly looking for standout pieces,” he told FashionNetwork.com.

For Chapter 11 of CFCL (Clothing For Contemporary Life), the brand he founded in 2020, Japanese designer Yusuke Takahashi looked to the principles of Jean Arp’s Art Concret, offering a wardrobe that is both beautiful and refined, yet practical, highly comfortable and suited to everyday wear.

The experimental music trio TLF accompanied the show on piano, guitar and cello, with the show unfolding in a crescendo from white to black, moving from diaphanous outfits to more substantial knitwear looks. The rounded curves of the first pale-green silhouettes, inspired by ceramics and blown glass, came wrapped in transparent nylon-polyester, giving off a soft glow. Other transparent ensembles seemed to filter the light.

Reflective sequins make an appearance on gossamer tunics. Voluminous jackets and trousers are knitted in organic cotton and hand-dyed in pale shades of pink and grey, accentuating the visual and tactile sensation of delicate fragility. The collection was completed by trapeze dresses with a supple, undulating look. They were knitted continuously, using different stitches with openwork sections and raised stripes.

A knitwear specialist and former Issey Miyake designer, Takahashi, who led the Issey Miyake men’s line for seven years, is devoted to craftsmanship. He has developed a 3D knitting technology that marries traditional technique with digital innovation, using recycled yarns to push the boundaries of his experiments further each time.