What does confidence look like in 2018? How about femininity? Is “molto sexy” still a valid dress code in this new era of reckoning for gender politics? What about power dressing? Designers had a lot on their minds during the autumn/winter 2018 shows – and with hundreds of show pictures and reviews coming in over the past four weeks, you could be forgiven for having missed some of their best quotes. Here, we look back at some of the most memorable points that the designers made backstage this season.
Molly Goddard
"I don't think there's anything wrong with being girly, but that's often misunderstood to mean prim or wishy-washy. It's very boring being put in that pretty bracket… sometimes people see an image, but they don't see the girl who's wearing it and the attitude that she has."
Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino
"Sometimes it feels as if women have to renounce their femininity to be stronger. I don't think you need to be authoritarian to be assertive. We used to think of romanticism as something fragile, something close to love, but for me romanticism means an individual approach to life more passionate, more emotional, more human. Today, romanticism is not a weakness, it's a strength. You can be assertive and not be aggressive. To me, being romantic today means being stronger."
Natacha Ramsay-Levi, Chloé
"What's interesting about French femininity - although I don't know if it's that feminine - is the idea of contradiction: you take something and make it something else. I don't know if you heard about the letter Catherine Deneuve signed? I think it was very intelligent. Some of the women who signed it are saying shitty things, but if you read the text, the text is very right. It's just saying, 'We are women. We are different.' In France there's something interesting about that. You never get too much into one direction. You always balance more."
Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior
"The relationship between fashion and change [used to be] very important. Now, in a different way - with the web - it's the same. Fashion has a huge influence on the young generation so we have a huge responsibility in what we do."
Miuccia Prada, Prada
"In my position as a rich fashion designer I can be useful. Fashion can be a voice without being superficial. The impression of fashion is that it is frivolous, it is still badly considered, even if the body is more important than a chair."
Silvia Venturini Fendi, Fendi
"It's not a time to fight anymore, especially at Fendi. The other day I was reading an interview that one of my aunts gave in the late 1960s. She said, 'When we started our work in this industry it was mainly populated by men. When they realised what we were doing, it was too late for them to stop us.' I thought that was clever. They were using soft power."
Alessandro Michele, Gucci
"Fashion is not simply what you wear or an instrument to generate business. It's something more, it's very much aware of what's happening and that wasn't always the case in the past. A jacket doesn't represent my way of being and living. I'm interested in what's inside that jacket."
Michael Halpern, Halpern
"When I started this label, I talked about escapism and getting away from the sadness. I didn't think [things in America] could get worse, but now it is. I have a little nostalgia for New York right now. I feel bad for my country and everything that's happening. It's not what it was before and a lot of people feel sad now more than ever, so it's important to me to show that I support America. It wasn't always like it is now."
