Paris Fashion Week is approaching and with it comes new faces and young designers that have caught our eye. From Kwaidan Editions to Marianna Ladreyt, here is a non-comprehensive list of the shows and presentations we are impatient to discover!

ROKH

We already highlighted the work of the Korean designer Rok Hwang in our profile section a year ago, taking style cues from his subtle feminine volumes. Sleek lines, neutral colors, and deconstruction were the signs that you had entered the realm of Rokh. His timeless style blends influences from 90s Margiela and Phoebe Philo for Celine, where he worked for three years before launching his brand in 2016. Three years later, the Londoner is showing a collection in Paris for the first-time. We can’t wait to see this first official Fashion Week outing, especially after his Prix Special at last year’s LVMH prize.

KWAIDAN EDITIONS

A mysterious name for a mysterious duo. We first heard about Léa Dickly and Hung La when they were nominated for the LVMH prize last year. Their cinematic aesthetic inspired by classic horror movies and 70s detective films, showcasing austere flared suits and crazy retro prints had piqued our interest. The pair met at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts d’Anvers and, while they were simply classmates at first, they quickly became lovers. With a first date watching The Shining, the two aspiring designers knew cinema would be their main inspiration – the medium that would drive their collections and allow them to tell stories through fabric. It was the 60s Japanese film Kwaidan that gave its name to the brand, meaning « strange story » or « ghost story ». Kwaidan Editions have already showed once at last Paris Fashion Week at the Silencio with an incredible performance by artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and musician Perez so the stakes are high for Autumn/Winter 2019.

MARIANNA LADREYT

It’s been three years since the half french/half Cypriot designer Marianna Ladreyt graduated from the Gerrit Riertveld Academy in Amsterdam. Since then, she’s been quite busy. She was a contestant at the 2017 Hyères festival alongside Marine Serre and Vanessa Schindler and launched her eponymous brand in the process. Since her student days, she’s been obsessed with the Greco-Roman aesthetic and especially the togas, which she applies to revisited bomber jackets, safari jackets and dresses. Her « togabags », sold through Instagram, already earned cult status. With fresh creative ideas, this young designer is ready to take over Paris Fashion Week and will present her Winter 2019 collection at Designer Appartment at the Palais de Tokyo next to other new faces. 

ALAN CROCETTI

There’s more than ready-to-wear in fashion! In fact, more and more young designers are experimenting with accessories, which sometimes steal the show. Alan Crocetti is turning heads with his eponymous jewellery line which aims to redefine the guidelines of jewellery and see past gender norms. Yes, boys can wear pearls and dangling earrings and girls can adorn their ears with hard-edged or spiked pieces. There’s a new way of accessorizing and it’s by breaking all the rules. Crocetti has earned his badass status by choosing to drop out of Central Saint Martins just before graduating, going his own personal way and trusting his gut. He was quick to be discovered by Lulu Kennedy and started showing his collections under the guidance of Fashion East. Since then, many designers have spotted this young talent like GmbH and Helmut Lang for whom he has designed jewellery for shows. Alan Crocetti will be in Paris for a mysterious presentation called « Erotica » with artist Esmay Wagemans and musician Patrick Belaga.

NEITH NYER

Neith Nyer’s Francisco Terra is one of the most talked-about young designers of the moment and who better than him to link up with the iconic ’90s brand DDP? All the French people who were teens in that era remember wearing or seeing the unmistakable DDP logo, a symbol of ’90s casual-wear. The Brazilian designer, finalist of the 2018 Andam Prize, celebrates nostalgia in every possible form and has a love for youth culture from the past and the present. The two brands will unite at Paris Fashion Week in an unexpected show where DDP’s 90s and 2000s archives will be brought back to life under a new creative vision.