There’s been lots of talk about the controversial practice of “peacocking” this season. But as we look back at four weeks of Fall ’13 shows with weary eyes, a few designers (and street-style stars) remind us that the f in fashion stands for fun. And perhaps embracing that with a little panache isn’t such a bad thing—particularly when it comes to novelty accessories. Take Dior, for instance: This season, Raf Simons brought a dash of wit to his slick collection by embossing boxy handbags with Warholian sketches of pointy single-soled shoes, thereby fusing two of our favorite things into one. (His raised-eyebrow sunglasses also deserve an honorable mention.) At Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld garnished his handbags with furry multicolored dice (one of which reminds us a little bit of an Angry Bird), and over at Chanel, he sent out models with mini-globe handbags and cobalt, powder-pink, mint-green, or red fur Anna Wintour bobs that looked like they were plucked from an anime cartoon. Speaking of fur, we can’t forget the giant skunk-striped mittens that turned up at Altuzarra or, for that matter, the arctic-appropriate full-length black gloves at Alexander Wang.
We also saw loads of cheeky headgear (Yazbukey’s Plexiglas heart-and-arrow hat, Piers Atkinson’s devil-horn cap, Meadham Kirchhoff’s unicorns-in-love crown), jewelry (Henry Holland’s crystal martini earrings, Lanvin’s wildly appropriate “Help” pendants and wasp brooches, Louise Gray’s eggbeater earrings), and miscellanea (Dsquared²’s Sunset Boulevard-worthy extra long crystal-encrusted cigarette holders). But the sartorial satire wasn’t just on the runway. Outside the shows, Tommy Ton captured everything from skeleton gloves to Vika Gazinskaya’s scarf, which is made out of what appears to be a stuffed-animal iteration of a lemur. Sure, many of the shows were dark and somber, with their punk themes and muted palettes. But that just made the odd touch of zany all the more welcome.
