Paris Fashion Week opens with drama and dashes of humor
PARIS
Milan Fashion Week was not even over and the fashionistas were already back in Paris on Sept. 23 for another 100-plus shows in the hectic womenswear season.
The spring-summer 2024 collections in the French capital run until Oct. 3, with 107 brands presenting, of which 67 are giving runway shows.
All eyes are on Balmain's show tomorrow after the dramatic theft of 50 of its outfits. Armed robbers seized the clothes on their way from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Balmain's Paris headquarters, leaving creative director Olivier Rousteing racing to pull together a replacement collection.
Paris is the last of the big four fashion weeks in the busy September calendar that sees back-to-back events in London, New York and Milan.
The biggest story this season has been a new creative director at Gucci. The debut by Sabato de Sarno in Milan was a relatively low-key affair but gave a boost to the share price of French parent company Kering, which has been struggling lately to keep up with its major rival, LVMH.
The first day of Paris Fashion Week always focuses on emerging designers and there was excitement this year about avant-garde newcomer Marie Adam-Leenaerdt from Belgium, who brought a dash of much-needed humor to the opening show.
It opened with a chorus singing "Let's go to the beach!" only to follow it with a series of decidedly un-beachy grey, formal and structured outfits before introducing some more summery Barbie pink and sky-blue dresses.
Also showing was Victor Weinsanto, a former classical dancer who trained in fashion with Jean Paul Gaultier and loves to bring cabaret to the catwalk.
There were doses of humor, opening with an extravagant wedding gown that he said was designed for "a woman who gets married entirely in Swarovski."
