Hermès, Balenciaga, and More Showed This Unlikely Trend at Paris Fashion Week

As Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2021 (virtual or otherwise) comes to a close, it's clear that from Hermès to Loewe, this year's COVID-19 pandemic was a major inspiration for the collections' top trends. While quarantine pushed people worldwide into their homes, many designers channeled their isolation into their work, culminating in a number of cage-like ensembles spotted throughout Paris Fashion Week. Between face masks, social distancing, and stay-at-home orders, the caged trend illustrates the universal feeling of confinement people around the world are feeling as they continue to adapt to the new normal. Only time will tell how long this will last, but for now, prepare to stay caged in even after lockdown ends with these cooped up looks.

The Director of Womenswear at Hermès, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, mixed trendy with classic to create several overlaid dresses. A chocolate bodycon dress with a leather crate overlay adds dimension to the emsemble without the need for embellishments. Paired with clogs, the look displays Hermès' knack for tasteful yet modern outfits for life in quarantine and beyond.

If ever a dress could depict le confinement in such a refined way, this piece expresses the world's current shared feeling of restraint in Demna Gvasalia's unique streetwear style. In Balenciaga's digital Paris Fashion Week look book, the floor-length layer of chains over a sleeveless black bodysuit fences the model into her own outfit.

Julien Dossena's avant garde twist on a suit of armor for Paco Rabanne takes a more glamorous approach to chain mail. In two of the show's concluding looks, dresses of silver and gold chains with matching embellishments make their way down the runway for a modern take on the medieval. Both pieces, complete with face masks, channel the enclosed nature of the current times, covering the model with metallic accents. 

Jonathan Anderson presented a joyful interpretation of spring's confining trend with a flower-embellished cage dress. Instead of a traditional runway or look book, Loewe's collection was presented via a supersized show-in-a-box, with life-size posters of the exuberant fashion. Outfitted with puffed sleeves, a tiered skirt, and flowery detailing, this playful look was finished with leather sneakers. 

For something less physically taxing but still on trend, this cage bra from Kenzo gives a very Picasso-like outline to the chest, adding a extra layer of dimension to any look. Similar to the popular harness trend of years past, this strappy accessory brings underwear to the forefront for a bold, but sensual choice.