Paris Fashion Week: Hakaan Yildirim is a new designer to know

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Ever since Turkish-born designer Hakaan Yildirim won the French ANDAM award for new talent last year, he’s been one of the buzziest newcomers on the Paris fashion show schedule.

And this season, he really lived up to the hype, with a drop-dead collection that was a fresh take on the age-old masculine/feminine theme.

Naturally, he riffed on menswear, showing a black tuxedo jacket with tails floating behind like the train of a gown; a gray blazer with lapels sewn together over the model’s bare chest; and a backless black halter gown with the drape of a suit.

But it’s the body-con mini-dresses, scooped out at the waist to reveal flashes of skin, that really made an impression. One was a white racer-back style with an asymmetrical pleated skirt. Another, in black, had jacket lapels in front. I also loved the white gown-as-tunic, slit to the waist on both sides, over pants. Very cool.

English actress Emma Watts wore Hakaan to the Elle Style Awards in London last month. And after this collection, starlets on this side of the Atlantic might want to take notice of him too.

-- Booth Moore in Paris

PHOTOS: Hakaan Yildirim fall-winter 2011 runway collection photo gallery

Middle and top photos: Looks from the Hakaan Yildirim fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.