All the must-sees.
Between New York, London, Milan and Paris, everyone in the industry knows that fashion month is a marathon, not a sprint. Each season, we experience four weeks filled with countless runway shows, street-style shots and buzzy-worthy celebrity moments, all culminating with a grand display in Paris.
Fashion month wrapped in the French capital on Tuesday with a Louis Vuitton staging the season's final show at the Louvre. It was an appropriately impressive location to end an equally impressive week. Keep scrolling for team Marie Claire's recap of our favourite moments from Paris Fashion Week.
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney put on a colourful display outside the Centre Pompidou on Monday morning, with models walking outdoors along vibrant paths. The collection featured Stella's signature tailoring with suits displayed in shades of blue, yellow and green, as well as classic black, beige and grey. Dresses were artfully draped into asymmetric designs, while body chains and crystal-embellished bras were styled underneath blazers adding a touch of femininity to more structured silhouettes.
Thom Browne
Fashion and fantasy collided at Thom Browne this season, with the designer putting on a fairytale-themed performance, which was so much more than just your run-of-the-mill runway. Gwendoline Christie opened the show with a monologue, setting the scene for MJ Rodriguez’s very own Cinderella story. There was a star-studded front row, including everyone from Janet Jackson to Maisie Williams, Doja Cat, and Erykah Badu. Instead of a pumpkin, this time Cinderella drove off in a pink Cadillac.
In terms of the clothes, Browne began the show with a series of oversize floor-length coats, clearly used to mask something underneath. Following this 20-look display, each coated model then re-emerged with the outwear dragging behind them, revealing a series of polka-dot suits crafted in pastel shades. A punk rock Bella Hadid also took to the runway, sporting red tights and a navy jacket with visible underwear on full display.
In the finale, our belle of the ball MJ Rodriguez returned dressed in a white, tiered gown, with the word "Cindy" emblazoned on the back. Cindy was then reunited with her Charming (in the form of Gwendoline Christie) while "You're The One That I Want" from Grease played in the background.
They all lived happily ever after...or so we assume.
Zimmermann
As an ode to Australia, the starting point for Nicky Zimmermann's latest collection was Tamarama Beach and the amusement park that existed there in the early 1900s. The runway began with sounds of nature and the famous Australian voices of Kylie Minogue, Naomi Watts, Rose Byrne and more spliced over the top. Alongside Zimmermann's signature florals and ruffles, the collection featured dresses printed with beachscape imagery. Shell appliques adorned tops, skirts and hems, while sequins which looked akin to intricate pieces of coral dripped from mini dresses and tops, moving fluidly as models glided down the catwalk.
The setting was equally as breathtaking, with the garden of the Petit Palais acting as a backdrop for the brand's Paris fashion week debut. And what a debut it was.
Rokh
Staged in a dance theatre near the Trocadero, with a view of the Eiffel Tower on full display outside the window, Rokh debuted its S/S23 collection entitled "The Irrational View." The collection seemed to centre on the deconstruction and unique reimagining of typical wardrobe staples. Dresses featured skirts with detachable fringing, while trenchcoats were artfully redesigned with cropped silhouettes or recreated into maxi skirts. Belts were sewn together to create dresses, and waistbands featuring belt loops were used on the necklines of dresses. Nothing was as it seemed, and yet everything was still completely wearable. A feat for any designer.
Louis Vuitton
Staged outside the Louvre, Louis Vuitton debuted its S/S23 collection to a sta-studded crowd including Janet Jackson, Ana de Armas, Sophie Turner and Jaden Smith. The collection certainly provided a sense of theatre with a giant installation construction in collaboration with French artist Philippe Parreno and Hollywood production designer James Chinlund.
Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquière focused on larger-than-life proportions, supersizing zips, buttons, belt buckles and other appliques. (In fact, Ghesquière claims those statement zips were some of the largest ever manufactured.)
The play on proportions didn't stop at the clothes, handbags and clutches were also expanded. Models carried portfolio-sized clutches under their arms which looked like blown-up versions of the brand's iconic card holders, while elsewhere Louis Vuitton's recognisable luggage tags were reimagined to become bags in and of themselves. Ghesquière's signature creativity really shone through in this unique display.
