So tricky! It's kinda hard to make the difference between iconic and influential...
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Helmut Lang FW94: Helmut's status changed after this collection. Prior to that, his collections from 86 were maybe too rock, too raw. It had sometimes a bit of a 80's touch sometimes. With that collection he broke with the 80's, became the taste-maker of the fashion industry and started to inspire a lot of future important designers.
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Helmut Lang SS01: He touched bondage in a obvious way, delivered one of the sexiest collection of his career and at the same time put on everyone lips a name that was slightly forgotten or at least absent from the fashion conversation: Azzedine Alaia. Few months later, the master will return to the runway.
That collection was also referenced by a lot of his disciples with Tisci first in mind.
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Tom Ford for Gucci 95/04: A rare moment in fashion where someone is in full control of his element. While i have some favorites, all of his collections (through their diversity and the 180° move he did each season) changed the game. The trend started at Gucci. Of course, there's the p*rno chic but he changed the industry in a deeper way when he started the Gucci Group.
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Martin Margiela at Hermes: Tbh, Martin became this huge star when he left the industry. But while his own collections were interesting and some of them are iconic, he was really the definition of a designer's designer. His work at Hermes however was highly influential. Hermes had a lot of talented designers before Margiela like Eric Bergere but Martin changed the perception of luxury and quickly defined a modern and timeless approach to luxury at a leather good house. Tomas Maier was hired by Tom Ford to follow the Margiela/Hermes model at BV. From Ferragamo to Valextra and even today, everybody is still following that model of less is more, the mythology of the fabric...Etc.
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Dior Couture FW99: If someone ask me who were the fantastic four of Couture in the 90's, i would say Karl, Gianni, Thierry and Jean Paul. Why? Because above beauty, they used Couture as a laboratory. They challenged taste, perception and fashion in that way. It was a time where Couture meant something beyond the clients.
I love John and i adore his early Dior couture collections. What he did at Givenchy was fine too but he was still in the tradition of beauty, dreamy, extravaganza of Couture and when he tried to go beyond that, it became costumey (Dior HC FW98).
That Matrix collection however changed the game! A real shock of modernity beyond the jolie madame suits and belle epoque/vintage inspired dresses he did before.
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Chanel SS05: Karl is a tricky one. He had a lot of iconic collections which were copied. Even if first Couture collection for Chanel in 1983 changed the industry for ever. He is the father of "reviving an old house". He started so many trends and all but i choose the S/S05 or "Redcarpet collection" because it was a real moment of pop culture post-Tom Ford.
While Hollywood was already involved with fashion, that collection and the whole chaos around it announced what the future of fashion would be. The entire collection was redcarpet friendly, the casting was insane with the Supers as celebrities and the ending with Daria wearing the Kidman dress and Kidman taking the bow introduced in a big level the brand ambassador thing we are fed up off today.
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Prada SS07: While Miuccia has always been an important and influencial designer, her collections from early to mid 00's were sometimes very ladylike, had a lot of ideas but the real forces in Milan for that time were Cavalli & D&G. They really pushed the sexy thing and were actually influencial in defining an aesthetic and the kind of "Eurotrash" vibe. That collection of Miuccia introduced the idea of Satin for daywear, she reintroduced the fringes in a new way, the mini length. She created trends and influenced the season after. Prada became more "accessible" in a way.
When Miuccia does a collection on one fabric or one detail or gimmick, it becomes a trend. For FW07, it was mohair and fringes. SS08 was hippy chic, FW08 was lace, FW09 was velvet, SS11 was cotton and bright colors...etc.
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Balenciaga FW07: While Nicolas's career changed in 2001, he was mostly an industry darling and replaced Helmut Lang in the heart of the fashion crowd, his collections were important but never really a real impact up until that one. Balenciaga became THE BRAND in 2007. For Spring he reintroduced biker jackets and leggings but the whole silhouette of FW07 influenced high-street and high fashion in a stronger way.
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Chanel Resort 2008 (LA
That collection really changed the game as brands started to really pay attention to resort collections from that. Before the spectacle of that show and the response, resort collections were mainly new versions of successful pieces from previous collections. For Chanel, they really started the gigantic spectacle from that show.
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Balmain SS09: While the Balmain-mania started with FW08, with that collection, Balmain really exploded. The outrageous prices, the support of Vogue Paris and the desire for something celebratory and sexy really pushed the brand. It was an antidote to the crisis and the influence was huge! Christophe Decarnin also gave to some European sexy brands some last hours of glory before the minimalism takeover.
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YSL SS08: Just look at Fashion in the 2010's. Everything is there: from the sock heels to the clean lines; From the boyish, oversized silhouettes to naive prints...
It wasn't sexy enough at that time but it looks quite sexy a decade later
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Dior Homme FW04 & SS05: Menswear is really interesting. People believe that Hedi revolutionized overnight but men were wearing styles inspired by Tom Ford at Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana or Helmut Lang and that means, straight silhouettes or bootcut pants.
Men in Europe really started to embrace skinny lines in 2006 & 2007 but the references were in those two shows which were maybe the most accessible collections Hedi designed. Everything is there.
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Givenchy Mens SS12: Streetwear took High Fashion. That collection started a lot of careers and made a lot of people believe that they can be designers by just doing cool prints. There wouldn't be a Virgil Abloh, Jerry Lorenzo and Marcelo Burlon without Riccardo Tisci
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Givenchy FW08: The first time someone did real, realistic and approachable leather pants. It was a hit and suddenly a lot of brands started to do their own version of that pant. Even if Riccardo's first hit was FW07, that collection put him in the club of the kings of fashion!
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Celine FW10: The real beginning of Phoebe's influence on the way people dressed. Minimalism at it finest and it peak. Very modern but also very timeless. She ended the reign of Christophe Decarnin with that show
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Rick Owens FW2002: First show, first hit and the introduction to a new sensuality and maybe of some of the most copied leather jackets of the decade.
I should add a Vuitton show but the list is already too long
