Faustine Steinmetz Fall 2018 Ready-To-Wear.....Fashionweekly..On Fow24news.com

The myth of French-girl style has been propagated for decades, though the Internet has certainly helped to fan the flames. Naturally, Paris-born designer Faustine Steinmetz is well-acquainted with this allusive, soigné creature.....
She cut her teeth in the haute couture ateliers that service the most well-heeled of those stylish women. Her latest collection sought to dismantle all of the clichés you expect to find in a bourgeois wardrobe and reconstruct them with her own twisted imagination.

The trench coat, an item that has been immortalized in French cinema time and time again—Catherine Deneuve in Les Parapluies de Cherbourg springs to mind—was done over several times, including a version in a crushed metallic fabric that had a rumpled, laissez-faire charm about it. Steinmetz has experimented with the idea of logos in the past, and this season, she splashed her name across several Parisian tropes, blurring the letters on a mohair pencil skirt that paired nicely with a satin blouse covered in the same monogram. Still, her tongue-in-cheek reworkings of the classic Fendi Baguette were hard to beat in that department, especially when they were made out of sparkling Swarovski beads.

Ultimately, denim is Steinmetz’s true raison d’être. She’s successfully managed to reinvent the look and feel of the humble jean with each collection. Standard skinnies were revised via hand-felting and knitting techniques, a sort of warm, fuzzy alternative to the ubiquitous ripped and shredded treatment. As cool as they might have appeared on the models, it’s tough to imagine how this cozy fabric would be flattering on a real woman’s curves. Steinmetz has street cast her shows in the past, including Londoners of all shapes and sizes last season, though that body diversity was sadly lacking this season.

The classic horse-print silk Hermès scarf, perhaps the most iconic Parisian accessory, was made over as a soft knee-length skirt and slouchy bedazzled tops that stole the show. It would have been nice to see their universally flattering appeal applied more broadly.