Avellano takes lion’s share of latex honours at Paris Fashion Week

At Paris Fashion Week nowadays, it seems to be not so much a question of if there’ll be any latex on show, but how much latex will be on show.

That was certainly the case at the PFW that finished in Paris earlier this week. And it would be fair to say the latex designer’s name on everyone’s lips at this event was Paris-based Arthur Avellano, who presented one of the Week’s final collections on Tuesday March 7.

Avellano’s young clothing brand has been gradually increasing its profile in celebrity fashion circles since Kanye West bought an Avellano coat as a gift for Julia Fox. The label’s creations soon started turning up on other celebs such as Kim Kardashian, Camille ‘Emily in Paris’ Razat and Katy Perry.

In late January, a month before the Paris fashion fest, the audience at London’s famous Heaven nightclub got an eyeful of Avellano’s design style (and more) when Rita Ora performed there in a figure-hugging trans pink one-shoulder gown from his Spring/Summer 2023 collection.

Underneath it, her modesty was preserved — as the tabloids say — by a thong and pasties. But, as one fashion pundit enthused, the transparent latex ensured that you could see all her tattoos. Yes — all of them!

But even Parisians didn’t have to wait for Tuesday’s official Avellano show to see his creativity on display. On Wednesday, Julia Fox turned up at PFW’s MAC event in a bright red Avellano latex coat and matching high-neck, floor-length gown that could have stopped traffic a kilometer away.

Tight on the body then flaring over the hips, and very shiny, this combo was seen in black in Avellano’s show, modelled by Munroe Bergdorf.

Not to be outdone, singer Noah Cyrus turned up to a couple of PFW events sporting shaved eyebrows and two different full-length Avellano latex styles: a fitted grey dress with matching coat and a blue, high-neck, backless floor-sweeping gown.

Avellano’s latest show displayed an impressive imagination at work, with smooth and draped latex and eye-catching body-con styles.

He has certainly been making good use of traditional and alternative iterations of latex, with garments in 3D-printed latex and Datex, a fabric-backed latex that can be sewn.

But perhaps smartest of all, given his target market of affluent fashionistas with little time for the preparatory rituals rubber-lovers enjoy, he employs chlorination, which gives latex an outer sheen that doesn’t need polishing and inner surfaces that don’t require talc or lube to aid dressing.

Couture as a term has been over-used by latex brands in the past. But you can see why Avellano lays claim to it — and prices his creations accordingly!

https://www.studioavellano.com