WEARABLE ART: Guests at the Akris show in Paris on Sunday discovered the work of Vancouver artist Rodney Graham, who mounted a 2015 exhibition in Zurich devoted to photos of himself donning an overcoat.
Akris designer Albert Kriemler displayed the photos in his show space — including one called “Coat Puller” — and printed the images on the backs of some coats, and as linings.
“I use myself as a model in my photographs,” Graham explained, noting that the clothes he wears are important. “Often they’re costumes, reflecting different characters. Sometimes I get them made in Vancouver by a costume maker. Or I just assemble things together. You know, prop shops.”
It wasn’t Graham’s first collaboration with a fashion designer. “Actually I did a white shirt with Ann Demeulemeester in 1992, a long time ago,” he recalled. “It came in a box, so it was kind of an artwork collaboration. There were only 10 of them — a very small edition.”
After flashing the Neil Barrett label on his sports jacket, Graham noted he’s preparing exhibitions for the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle, England, and Museum Frieder Burda in Baden Baden, Germany.

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MUGLER MOMENT: Katheryn Winnick, the actress best known for television series “Vikings” and “Bones,” sat front row at Mugler’s fall show.
Winnick will appear with Matthew McConaughey in the Stephen King adaptation of his novel “The Dark Tower,” a science-fiction Western slated for a summer release.
“We shot in South Africa, in Cape Town,” Winnick said. “It was nice to get away from the industry so we could focus on the story — we needed that isolation.”
Winnick said she was currently developing a fashion project, but declined to share details other than that the product would be tangible and empowering for women. “It’s fierce and strong and sexy at the same time,” she said.
The actress was seated next to Sofia Carson, a singer and actress who is a fixture on the Disney Channel.
Christian Courtin-Clarins, president of the Clarins beauty group that owns Mugler, turned up to take in the fall collection. New single-brand store locations for Clarins will be unveiled in the coming year, he said, with openings planned for Paris and Lyon, among others.
Courtin-Clarins said the company was developing a new moisturizer, but couldn’t say when it would be added to the Clarins line. “Frankly if you want to do something really

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FLUSHIN’ RIDICULOUS: At least Alexander Wang had an excuse. At the long-abandoned RKO Hamilton Theater where he showed in New York, there were no indoor bathrooms.
But at Balenciaga at Espace Champerret in Paris, someone just didn’t want you to go. A security guard, either under instruction or going rogue, informed at least three full-bladdered women that the facilities were “broken.” Understanding their dismay, a lovely young woman (unnamed lest she face repercussions) working front-of-house tried to help. She spent what felt like a good 10 minutes circling the space in search of another option, twice checking back with the guard who held firm on the lack of access to the “broken” bathrooms. On her third pass, he shrugged and said something to the effect of, “OK, be quick.” The door directly behind him opened upon the restrooms: a ladies’ room with seven stalls, nice and clean, at least two of which worked perfectly (the others weren’t checked).
Note to show hosts: We run around a lot during shows, and bodily functions happen. Please don’t make us have to beg to pee. Thank you.

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SPREAD THE WORD: Vincent Oquendo is so excited about his recent discovery of fragrance brand Ex Nihilo and its personalized fragrances that he’s been telling all his friends about it. On Saturday night, the celebrity makeup artist took advantage of the fashion pack being in Paris to invite them to get to know the brand better at its Rue Saint-Honoré boutique.
Guests including Olivia Culpo, Devon Windsor, Barbara Palvin and Kelly Sawyer crowded into the store to drink cocktails and discover the brand’s demi-couture scents.

Olivia Culpo and Devon Windsor 
Courtesy

“I used to wear Hamptons by Bond No. 9, but once you’ve had something custom-made for you, you can’t go back to off the rack,” enthused Oquendo, inviting guests to sniff his wrist to discover his personal blend. Fragrance is very important to Oquendo, he said. “As a makeup artist, I’m in very close proximity with people, it’s almost intimate.”
Could there be a tie-up in the works, in line with the wave of scented makeup products that are arriving on the market like Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire beauty products?

Vincent Oquendo and Barbara Palvin 
Courtesy

“I wouldn’t mind that at all, it would be amazing,” said Oquendo.
Benoît Verdier, one of Ex Nihilo’s three co-founders, had more

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Phoebe Neuman

Your front row view, no ticket required.

Your front row view, no ticket required.

Perfect. Soundtrack.

“It’s fashion. It’s joy. It’s fun,” Guillaume Henry said backstage before presenting his Nina Ricci collection on Saturday at the Grand Palais.
Does a cowgirl-circus (by way of Vegas) fusion sound like fun? It was, but not in the raucous, cheesy manner you might expect. Rather, Henry delivered a deft Paris, Texas take on a motif that could easily have veered toward camp. It didn’t. “I’ve never been to view Texas,” he said, “but this is what I imagine.”
Henry imagined a world in which women choose to dress in a feminine manner, with equal parts grace and bravado. And if they occasionally embrace unbridled glitz, so be it. He thus worked his Western fantasies with control, balancing understatement and overstatement in an upbeat collection that radiated a kind of chic that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Nina Ricci woman neither ponders fashion nor obsesses over it. She enjoys it.
Henry used the archetypal cowboy shirt as a template for coats and snappy shirtdresses. Leather trim here, lizard patch there and a swish of endless of fringe made the point, but in fact, these were good-looking, urbane clothes that sometimes dared to go colorful in defiance of the fall season. Until pre-fall, Henry had avoided pastels

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Elie Saab said his fall collection was inspired by “Giselle,” though he flitted around the theme with a display of moody glamour.
The ballet, about a heartbroken peasant girl who joins the Wilis, a group of ghostly spirits of maidens, is best known for its scenes with the female corps de ballet costumed in pure white.
Saab, by contrast, worked a somber palette of deep purple, ink black and royal blue — with a sprinkling of a pale-pink shade that his show notes fancifully referred to as “whisper-light sugar, as if from a maiden’s blushed cheek.”
The dancer-inspired silhouettes were most evident on corseted dresses with velvet ribbon details or laced backs. These included an upscale purple dirndl with horizontal lace insets, as well as a vampy purple lace maxi gown where the velvet ribbons framed a bare neckline.
Tutus inspired sheer, embroidered or lacy skater skirts, while lilies were also a recurring motif. They were traced in gold studs on a leather biker jacket, and formed an appliqué pattern in black velvet outlined with gold sequins on sheer black tulle.
The delicate designs contrasted with demonstrative outerwear, including velvet demi-capes that hung off one shoulder and coats with extravagant fur collars and cuffs. Crystal-studded tights

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