Skip to content 
PARIS — Saint Laurent sent out a river of gold, while large candles bathed a glossy black outdoor runway in golden light and the Eiffel Tower swayed in the background.
Catherine Deneuve, Kate Moss, Hailey Bieber and Rami Malek attended the show, while elsewhere at Paris Fashion Week Jennifer Lopez took her seat in Stella McCartney’s rain-soaked gardens. Rihanna turned out for the rises at the conceptual fashion house Matières Fécales, which translates as “fecal matter”.
Regardless of the financial problems – and there are many – Paris retained its ability to assemble a star-studded front line and an impressive platform this season.
Halfway through the springin offfully am its 2007 off on 2027 2027 on. big split; and business working couture into T-shirts and jeans while asking himself, nervously, who is this all for.
Last month, beauty giant L’Oréal overtook LVMH as France’s most valuable listed company. This is the first time since 2017 that a non-luxury company has topped the table in Paris.
Saint Laurent’s parent Kering has returned to growth after a major downturn, but Balenciaga remains under pressure and Gucci is still struggling to reverse years of falling sales behind the runway show.
At Saint Laurent on Tuesday night, gold was almost the whole story.
Gold looked sad, fluid, translucent or densely worked. Safari jackets and trenches came in crisp metallic cotton. Cocktail dresses featured glittering lace, brocade-trimmed jackets. Stilettos stood on snake-shaped heels.
Then came the black finale, led by Polish supermodel Anja Rubik – a twist on Yves Saint Laurent’s 1991 gold closing sequence.
Charlotte Gainsbourg took to the runway to sing, putting a close finish to the monumental situation.
Celebrating ten years at the house, designer Anthony Vaccarello gave his usual interviews and let the collection carry the event.
His retrospective mood invited speculation about his farewell, but the show didn’t know he had left.
Two days later, Chloé came to excess through texture.
Chemena Kamali gathered broderie anglaise with lace, pearls and tassels, and set out swimsuits and long-brimmed fishermen’s hats in bright colors. Ruffled sleeves showed a strong argument for size.
The bright outerwear put a stop to the sweetness.
The question was how much embellishment Chloé’s promise of easy clothes could carry comfortably.
Meanwhile, McCartney’s show rewarded its damp audience with easy tailoring, coral-like knit forms and air jumpers on denim.
Sculpted hems and peplums gave the outfit an underwater vibe, while naturalist David Attenborough’s voice delivered a message of ocean conservation.
The peplum was, of course, one of the silent situations of the week, turning up carved serv.
The strongest pieces connected that theme with McCartney’s ease in sports: loose tailoring, draw-line detailing and clothes with room to move.
Across the runways, underwear made up an ever-increasing proportion of clothing.
At Tom Ford, Haider Ackermann put on a particularly playful show: sharp tailoring with bare chests, fishnet, heavily reduced swimwear and silk robes. Black swimsuits were more geometry than clothing.
A male model in a sweater and pale pink thong carried a vicuña coat draped over a weekend bag.
Ackermann extended the house’s familiar sensual confidence across both menswear and womenswear, keeping the tailoring precise enough to give structure to the entire publication.
At Balmain, Antonin Tron built a second stronger tour around medieval backstage pictures and the air of elegant semi-dress: corset bodices, garters moving from miniskirts, bras under reduced satin bombers, eel skin and animal-patterned jacquards.
His references ranged from Jim Morrison to Michel Foucault’s experiments with LSD in California.
Similar rain covered the windows of Karl Lagerfeld’s former mansion.
Prints, embroidery and sequins added depth to the surface, although the richness sometimes competed with the sensible clothing which is one of Tron’s strengths.
Even Rick Owens went boudoir, according to his own words: on a ramp over the reflection pool of the Palais de Tokyo, he put out colorful column gowns, spiked tulle, crystal-filled shoes and a full-body construction of tulle and elastic.
The question under everything was more difficult to organize: in a recession, how does luxury justify itself?
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s response at Balenciaga was ingenious.
Dense rows of stitching shaped a white shirt into a fitted waist and flared peplum.
A T-shirt got the same treatment. Jeans were cut on the bias – suddenly across the fabric – to change their fall.
Shown in broad daylight at the Tennis Club de Paris, the collection made an inspiring case for the everyday use of couture knowledge.
Designers Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran took over Place de la République for an exhibition titled “The 99 Percent”.
The collection brought together sari-inspired draping, shredded denim and figures designed to evoke masked showmen.
The finale featured a woman in a gold lamé gown carrying two dummies of white men in suits.
Public access was part of the proposal.
The irony was hard to miss: 99% of the world can’t afford Matières Fécales clothing.
Paris had shown how to make people look, but it’s the clothes, the industry hopes, that will persuade them to wear.
