Matthieu Blazy, who got the other most coveted and demanding job in fashion, explored a new galaxy for Chanel, both with his solar system set and his front row, which saw a lot of newcomers. Two ambassadors have been announced in Ayo Edebiri and Nicole Kidman, and there also were some new faces, including Pedro Pascal, Carrie Coon, Michaela Coel and Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who attended Blazy’s final show for Bottega Veneta. (Blazy brought Michael Giugliano with him from Bottega Veneta to be talent director at Chanel.)
“It is about every brand looking at their talent booking departments and thinking: how can we get creative?” says Vena Brykalin, editor-in-chief of Vogue Ukraine. “Regardless of the ambassadors, who is the moment and how can we capitalise on that? I would attribute that to Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe effect. He was the first to look for people who are just starting to make waves.”
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who succeeded Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, presented paper plane shoes, shrunken leather coats, razor-cut denim and strapless towel dresses that also felt like good conversation starters between the brand’s future and its past. Their front row didn’t disappoint either, featuring Pedro Almodóvar, Sarah Paulson and Parker Posey, among other fashionable New Yorkers who have followed the pair since their Proenza Schouler beginnings.
Other brands too used front row coups to help outline their new visions. At Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Balenciaga debut, Meghan Markle’s first-ever fashion week appearance in a draped, all-white look made headlines. At Mugler, managing director of fashion Adrian Corsin explained that actors Naomi Watts, Pamela Anderson and Elizabeth Berkley were invited to bolster the collection’s Hollywood glamour theme. “They’re part of the story that we’re telling. And so it’s almost a screen test, as if they were characters in what we’re going to present,” he said post-show.
Elsewhere, Duran Lantik took over the house of Jean Paul Gautier with what must have been the most divisive show of the week – also much like in the time of founder. The hirsute bodysuits, one with full-frontal male nudity, were a point of discussion in the days that followed.
In the midst of it all, one debut — perhaps the most under the radar — cut through the noise by being extremely low-key. Mark Thomas’s debut for Carven was held on the ground floor of the maison’s HQ, and featured just 34 looks. “The idea is that you’re coming into our home. It will be a moment of calm, of coming out of the chaos of everything else that’s happening with the big brands,” he said in an interview ahead of the show.
Cutting through the noise
With all the debuts, business as usual wasn’t an option, forcing everyone to up their game. The schedule also changed this season, meaning buyers and editors adapted their usual travel plans to make sure they could catch all of the big shows. Saint Laurent opened the week on Monday evening, as the only major runway of the day. The show, set as usual in front of the Eiffel Tower, had 1,000 hydrangeas lining the catwalk, while supermodel Bella Hadid walked for the first and only time this season.