The trends, celebrities and top moments from Paris Fashion Week 2024
The collections were notable for their fresh opulence, new silhouettes and ‘assertive sensuality’, heralding the start of fun times ahead.
Backstage at the Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week Demna, the mononym designer, told reporters that “The time has come for fashion to have a point of view.”
Demna might have toyed with the cocoon shape that Cristobal Balenciaga – once described by Christian Dior as “the master of us all’- made his signature. But he did so on his terms – puffed up as a bomber and worn with jeans, say, and lingerie looks that nodded to the inner workings of some Balenciaga’s intricate ballroom gowns. To do so otherwise, Demna said, would be too “retro.” Fashion after-all needs always to be looking forward, even when it’s always tied to what’s come before.
Frankly, after so many seasons of so-called ‘quiet luxury,’ a palpable shift was in the air. If fashion is looking forward it might be toward fun times ahead.
Perhaps it was the return of Alessandro Michele, the long-haired, opulent fashion mystic who transformed Gucci – and fashion’s mode and mood in his almost eight year tenure- whose obsessive pursuit of beauty now turns to Valentino. His first runway collection for Valentino – a brand Michele has always held in esteem “We had the Pope, the President and Valentino,” he told fashion critic Tim Blanks of growing up in Rome – debuted in Paris this week. And with such sumptuousness. Michele has run riot in the Roman house’s extensive archives, there were ruffles and bows and gilded embroidery, polka dots and hats and textures of silk and brocade and lace (and more). Michele’s magpie tendencies were in full flight, tempered somewhat by the elegant codes of Valentino.
New silhouettes could be found at Loewe too, where creative director Jonathan Anderson continues to offer kooky new ideas ten years into his tenure. Even in things you couldn’t possibly imagine being redefined, such as the tourist tat T-shirt he reimagined in sheafs of feathers, and bringing back the hoop skirt, making it modern, alive even, in floral georgette silk. For all of this, and everything before it, Anderson received a standing ovation from a crowd not especially predisposed to doling them out. Other than, well, to Anderson.
New vibes in fashion could be found at Saint Laurent too, where the tailoring veered into new shapes and pushed around complexities of femininity. There was a sensual lightness of being at Hermes too with creative director Nadège Vanhée exploring what she explained to Vogue Runway as an “assertive sensuality.” This could be seen in sheer skirts in caramel hues paired with the French house’s signature uber luxurious leather (a sensation of sensuality of themselves!) and printed silk twill, the kind used for its famous scarfs, worked into flippy, summery skirts.
At Dior, feminine strength was once more an inspiration for creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, who introduced mesh track pants worn with blazers and fun little sporty motorcycle jackets. Closer to home, Dior just opened its first Westfield boutique in Sydney’s Bondi, with a menswear store planned for Brisbane later this year and a new boutique in Perth in 2025.
At Chloe the new Boho-chic mood continues at a wafty, jangly pace. Oh and Rabanne debuted what has been dubbed ‘the world’s most expensive bag,’ a version of its 1969 bag, crafted from 18 carat gold coins. Glitz is back! Florals for spring? They never went anywhere.
On the final day Chanel – still yet to appoint a creative director and thus the topic of every fashion person clique group chat – showed a collection by the studio that celebrated the lightness and movement of the body that Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel so dearly prized. The show was staged in the Grand Palais, following the completion of its renovation (part of the bill footed by Chanel), where so many of the house’s spectacular shows have been held. This sense of freedom was underscored by Riley Keough performing When Doves Cry why swinging in a ‘birdcage’ structure.
A sense of fluidity could be found at Louis Vuitton too, where softness and structure was explored by creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere with puffy jackets worn with bicycle shorts and sheer pantaloons and peplum vests. The runway meanwhile was crafted from 1250 trunks, using materials from the Louis Vuitton ateliers.
Miu Miu, Prada’s naughty little sister, had a killer runway lineup, including Alexa Chung, Willem Dafoe and Nicole Kidman’s daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, making her runway debut.
For Eva Galambos, director of luxury Sydney boutique Parlour X, Paris Fashion Week this year was something of a revelation.
The mood, she said, was “fabulous.”
A key prediction she sees eventuating from the runways is the idea of pick and mixing.
“We are now used to colour clashing, but it’s time to clash style aesthetics,” she says.
“Mix boho and tailoring…Mix masculine and feminine. The art is finessing the perfect combination.
It will either work perfectly, or it won’t. But it’s all about originality. And confidence,” she says.
“Finally, finally, there is sharp steering right away from branding, as we head entirely back towards creativity. And this makes me so happy.”
Galambos – whose favourite shows included Rabanne and Sacai – notes her key trends from Paris as sheer “everything, “embellishments, from sequins to brocade, exaggerated proportions and super high heels.
For Kate Benson, buying director at luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter, Paris Fashion Week, the mood shift for the whole season was what she’s called “soft romanticism,” and a nod to “female empowerment.”
“From sheer under layers at Chloe, lace trimmed silks at Dries Van Noten, fluid maxi skirts at Saint Laurent and flapper inspired dresses at Erdem, designers have embraced the feminine form,” she says.
Other trends include the sunset colour palettes spied at the likes of Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and at Australian fashion label Zimmermann’s show, which took inspiration from cult ‘70s surf film, Morning of the Earth. As creative director Nicky Zimmermann says of the collection, it was “fun and fresh and optimistic.”
Ballet was another key trend Benson took note of this season.
“Whether a literal take at Ferragamo, crystal embellished flats at Simone Rocha or subtle dusty pinks at Erdem and Jil Sander, ballerina references have been in abundance this season,” she says.
As for what Benson thinks will take hold in our wardrobes, it runs the gamut from peplums to ruffles, miniskirts to maxis, knitted sets to leather jackets. Heels, she says, are back – from ladylike pumps to sculptural wedges and minimalist thong sandals. All of it proof of a season that mixed up the rules.
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