PFW Diary: All the sleeve and shoulder action at Givenchy, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Céline, and Chloé

View the sleeve and shoulder trend in action »

We need to talk about sleeves. Shoulders too, but first sleeves.

There is a majorly mannish tailoring trend forming at the Fall 2012 shows in Paris, but what keeps it from being dull is that the designers are having fun with sleeves.

Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci cut his sleeves short and wide for boxy jackets and colour-blocked furs. We’ll surely be seeing these goods on Alicia Keys and the other stars who were in his front row.

There were striped knit sleeves on wool coats at Kenzo (made ultra-cool thanks to designers and Opening Ceremony co-founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim).

About-to-be-mom-again Phoebe Philo put contrasting sleeves on colour-blocked tops and furs at Céline. Dresses are getting strong-armed too. Andrew Gn had a little black dress with one lace sleeve and while the other arm was left bare.

And now to the matter of shoulders—they’ve been wide, like I’m-wearing-my-dad’s-coat wide—at Stella McCartney and Chloé and bead-trimmed at Andrew Gn. Sleeveless black leather dresses had extended shoulders at Costume National and Kenzo’s jewel-tone satin jumpsuits had flap-like shoulder extensions.

And Philo couldn’t seem to decide if she wanted her shoulders dropped (on oversized coats), extended (on colour-blocked tops) or arced (on zippered dresses).

Emphasizing the shoulders make the waist and hips seem slimmer, which is never a bad thing.

The post PFW Diary: All the sleeve and shoulder action at Givenchy, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Céline, and Chloé appeared first on FASHION Magazine.