Celine, Phoebe Philo, Nicholas Kirkwood, and More (OnStyle Notebook)

• By Christina Binkley

A model presents a creation for Celine.

PARIS — Phoebe Philo‘s handbags have spawned nearly as many knock-offs as the Hermes Kelly. Fashionable people are cozying up in Birkenstocks and chunky sweaters because of the Celine designer. So pay attention, class, to what the teacher cooked up for Fall 2014: Knit pants that puddle around the foot (Marc Jacobs did them, too.), a longer narrow — yet still unbinding — silhouette, and comfy flatworm shoes. My particular favorite looks: jackets with the corners of fabric folded back and buttoned … as an embellishment.
Film director David Lynch created a creepy film backdrop of a clay monster head for the Kenzo show bright and early on Sunday morning. Next time designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon decide to collaborate with a famous noir surrealist on their set design, they might want to consider moving their show to the last-in-day 8 p.m. slot.
But it goes to show that when you’re relevant, you’re relevant. These two besties from Berkeley have put Kenzo back on the map with their nerdy pop-culture fascinations, earnest do-good vibe (they protested global overfishing for their spring 2014 collection), and zany take on fashion trends. For fall 2014: maze-like jacquard suits, puffers (naturally), and for the truly trendcrazed, fur trimmed puffer clutches.
I stopped by Nicholas Kirkwood’s showroom in the Marais to find out what an infusion of cash and knowledge from LVMH has done for the shoe designer. He’s acquired a new CFO, representatives in the Middle East, and is re-working his supply chain. So in addition to those wink-wink velvet tuxedo slippers with the eyes on them, for fall, expect to see many many more of Mr. Kirkwood’s creations come 2015.
When Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhoff spied a photo of two protestors — one in a corduroy skirt citing homosexuality as sin, the other protesting corduroy skirts as sin, their fall fashion collection was born. Talbot Runhoff is the only label where you’re likely to find designer corduroy, because this Berlin-based duo did not go with the puffer theme like everyone else.
Hot designer alert: To take a rectangular band of cloth — roughly 4 inches by 16 — and turn it into the basis of a collection requires perfect balance. For Givenchy, Ricardo Tisci had me twisting in my seat to see where he’d place the next strip of cloth — on the front of a gown, as pockets, stripped across the top of a sweater, plain cloth on a fur jacket? Blown up prints based on butterfly wings — not the shape, but the colors and patterns — were equally memorable.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/03/03/onstyle-notebook-celine-phoebe-philo-nicholas-kirkwood-and-more/