Paris Fashion Week kicks off with a "historic" edition
Paris Women's Fashion Week debuted this Monday with the youngest brands and a Saint Laurent show full of stars_ before the most anticipated events_ such as Dior_ Chanel or Loewe which_ with new creatives at the helm_ are making for a "historic" edition. After New York_ London and Milan_ a hundred firms will present their spring-summer 2026 collections until October 7th.
This edition will be decisive after the unprecedented changes in some of the most prestigious brands_ with a dozen new creators_ in an attempt to boost the luxury sector that is facing economic difficulties. "It's a historic fashion week_" Claire Thomson-Jonville_ editorial director of Vogue France_ told AFP.
Famous ambassadors
Victor Weinsanto and Belgian Julie Kegels kicked things off on Monday. Kegels_ in her first appearance on the official catwalk program_ presented a collection with lots of transparencies mixed with satin fabrics and shiny details_ in a pastel palette. At the show_ under the tracks of the Parisian aerial metro and attended by the Spanish singer Rosalía_ the designer's thong socks were not missing. The Belgian designer is known for her stockings that leave the heel exposed and are held up with a strap between the toes.
At night_ Saint Laurent caused a sensation in the Trocadero gardens. In front of the Eiffel Tower_ Anthony Vaccarello presented his new collection to a star-studded audience_ including Madonna_ Carla Bruni Sarkozy and Renée Zellweger.
Presented were wide dresses with ruffles_ transparent trench coats and silhouettes entirely in black or brown leather_ with straight skirts and large jackets_ in shades of blue_ red or deep orange_ contrasting with white hydrangeas which formed the brand's initials YSL.
And outside the official calendar_ L'Oréal Paris presented a fashion show free and open to the public in the town hall square_ in the center of Paris_ with its most famous ambassadors: from Jane Fonda --in silver and with the raised fist--and Andie MacDowell_ to Eva Longoria and Viola Davis_ passing by Kendall Jenner and Ariana Greenblatt.
High bar
In the coming days_ the most anticipated moments will be the first fashion show from Matthieu Blazy for Chanel_ on October 6. Blazy_ a 41-year-old Franco-Belgian who left the creative helm of Bottega Veneta takes over from Virginie Viard_ Karl Lagerfeld's right hand woman_ who assumed the artistic direction of the French firm in 2019.
Jonathan Anderson will present his first women's collection for Dior on October 1st. This 41-year-old Northern Irishman was for 11 years the artistic director of the century-old Spanish brand Loewe_ which he radically rejuvenated.
Loewe will be another of the most anticipated debuts_ by the duo formed by Americans Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez_ appointed to replace Anderson. The founders of the New York firm Proenza Schouler have large shoes to fill after their predecessor turned the Spanish brand into a sales and design success. Loewe_ a leather goods house dating back to 1846_ founded in Madrid and currently integrated into the French luxury group LVMH_ has combined up to now craftsmanship and avant-garde. For years_ Loewe shows were a rendez-vous for stars from Timothée Chalamet to Pedro Almodóvar_ passing through Tilda Swinton. Several of these stars were ambassadors of the brand.