The Neith Nyer Spring/Summer 2019 collection presented at Paris Fashion Week is a tribute to Paris as a place of both hope and despair, told through the lens of a pageant queen trying to make her way to the top. Designer Francisco Terra was inspired by a girl, a spooky gothic kid from Bastille that dreams to be Miss France, and will work hard to make her way to her dream.
The key elements of this season are pulled directly from wardrobes of aspiring beauty queens: crowns and bathing suits, sparkles, child like mini skirts, and a palette of pink and turquoise. These naïve features are perverted using radical cuts and restitching, bleached fabrics and extravagant details.
Jeweller Florence Tetier‘s earrings are seashell -like creatures born of melted shiny plastic; the open-toe pumps designed in collaboration with Zeferino in Brazil deliberately have a longer, exaggerated sole.
“I wanted to create the narrative of a person who is fighting to succeed because everyone can relate to it”, explains Francisco Terra, the creative director of the label. “By distorting the peaceful imagery of beauty queens, I want to make clothes for people with thick skin.”
The Brazil native designer wanted to escape the concept of showing a collection in a private space while talking about street fashion and style. Therefore this season he decided to present fashion where it belongs : in the streets. Models walked randomly through the streets of Paris as if it was a show, followed by street style photographer Julien Boudet, the @bleumode.
This season also integrates the visual symbols of Paris city life, a fashion capital rife with visual contradictions. There is a certain darkness beyond the Eiffel Tower and romantic flowers handpainted by the artist Fay Brown, contrasted with skirts and shirts in trashy prints pulled from tourist boutiques. Printed “papier de marabout,” small sheets of paper distributed in Parisian metro stations designed by mystics to solve money or love problems, is another motif used as stamps to mark the garments.
More than ever, this season is a reflection of Neith Nyer’s DNA, a blend of street and couture, high fashion and bad taste. It feels a bit edgier and ‘in your face’ than the brand’s previous collection ‘What is bad taste‘ but at the same time it does stay true to the designer’s use of ruffles, deconstructed denim and asymmetric designs. It is also a comeback to the roots of the brand, embracing DIY techniques with luxury fabrics.
