Paris. The city of the Eiffel tower. Of the traffic that carries agendas ahead. From the occasional bedbug infestation. During its Fashion Week, apparently, Paris is also a place where people can pay more than 6,000 euros to attend a show in a black market articulated by sellers, public relations and other professionals who operate between behind the scenes of which few have proof, but no one wants to doubt.
Is there anything more magical than what you can’t pay for? The news was not new, but it spread like wildfire. Louis Pisano, fashion editor and firebrand at X (formerly Twitter), started the conversation by sharing a screenshot of an Instagram story. Bryan Yambao, director of Perfect Magazine and blogger since influencers were called bloggers, responded with Excel to the controversy.
In previous seasons there may have been someone who secured an invitation to Lanvin for 4,000 euros, or to The Row for 1,700. It is possible to imagine that the prices of Alexander McQueen or Chloé on this occasion would rise due to these being the last shows of their creative directors Sarah Burton – who said goodbye with a collection that summarized everything that she has contributed to McQueen in the last thirteen years in the that his work has guaranteed that the firm survives whoever gave it its name; and Gabriela Hearst, who helped make Chloé as sustainable as a luxury company can be.
True or not, the list underlines that of all the shows at Paris Fashion Week there is one more special than the others. Chanel is the only brand whose invitation does not include a price, just a simple script that, like an emotionless emoji, has no words. By saying nothing it shows that it is the most Parisian firm on the calendar. Chanel, like Paris, can live off its legend.
Virginie Viard decided to leave the capital to take her audience (physical and digital) to Villa Noailles, the modernist house that Charles and Marie-Laure Noailles commissioned from architect Robert Mallet-Stevens in the 1920s. Tweed shaped kaftans, camellias shaped headbands, and the double C decorated everything from camera cases to the smallest piece of jewelry. In a world full of uncertainty, clients and fans know that they will always have Chanel.
It is curious how some firms can allow themselves to be stubbornly consistent with their proposals, but others are not allowed to always offer the same thing. Not even the emotional story of Demna Gvasalia’s show for Balenciaga, in which everyone from her mother to the former director of the Antwerp Fashion School Linda Loppa participated, has managed to convince an audience (the digital one) that previously applauded every sweatshirt with shoulder pads, every oversized sneaker, every tailored coat. In fashion, whether or not the message arrives does not depend on how well constructed it is or how masterfully it has been articulated. Success does not depend on the importance of the content.
The Y/Project by Glenn Martens continues to captivate because it is difficult to ignore the effect of garments that are so twisted and end up being architectural. His coherent speech – partly reinforced by the exposure that his position as creative director of Diesel has given him and the relevance with which his work has been able to correspond to the Italian brand – convinces. He joins the group of designers who keep Paris at the forefront. To Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons), to Rick Owens, to Jun Takahashi (Undercover).
Another type of architecture, inspired by the interiors of the Italian Renaissance, reigned at Valentino, where Pierpaolo Piccioli defended the freedom of women to dress or undress as they pleased with simple garments of complicated constructions that, up close, have little to envy of those of the haute couture
Ten years in Paris have helped Jonathan Anderson feel at ease at Loewe, even daring to do what until now was only a common gesture at Prada: introduce novelties in his men’s collection that are then brought to the women’s collection. Very high waists do not understand sex in the same way that the Irish designer does not conceive of conventional silhouettes. A language has been invented for Loewe that, without being familiar, everyone understands.
Speaking of languages: Daniel Roseberry continues to express himself fluently in Schiaparelli. So much so that one might think that he communicates with the designer in his dreams. His proposal for next spring is surreally real, so the three-dimensional golden version of the lobster that Dalí painted on the famous 1930s dress won’t look taken out of context on the streets of Paris next spring .
