What to expect at Paris Fashion Week this February
As the final city of the big four that make up fashion month, Paris usually provides a pretty spectacular conclusion. With a roster of big-name designers and a vibrant schedule of fresh talent, the French capital has remained at the forefront of fashion innovation for more than a century. From the early, heady days of Paul Poiret through to Schiaparelli’s surreal offerings, Chanel’s leisurewear-inflected luxury, Dior’s New Look, André Courrège’s space-age stylings, Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking, Jean Paul Gaultier’s enfant terrible antics, and plenty more memorable moments besides, the city continues to build on an impeccable style heritage while pushing new boundaries.
Running from Monday 24 February to Tuesday 3 March, Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2020-2021 offers a jam-packed nine days of shows. Here Vogue offers up some of the many unmissable events.
African designers on the rise
Kick-starting the proceedings with his show on 24 February is Kenneth Ize . The 2019 LVMH prize finalist is widely acclaimed for his bold palettes and novel approach to traditional West African textiles. Working with local weavers and design groups, the Lagos-based designer’s use of aso-oke (a Yoruba hand-woven cotton cloth usually worn on special occasions) is particularly notable, yielding gorgeously structured garments that have already amassed plenty of fans, Naomi Campbell among them.
The following day 2019 LVMH prize winner Thebe Magugu will also have his first PFW presentation. The South African designer’s beautiful, imaginative silhouettes and politically inflected collections have quickly established him on the fashion map. Emphatic on the importance of local suppliers (all of his clothes are manufactured in Johannesburg), Magugu is the first African designer to receive the LVMH accolade.
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Presentations aplenty
Sustainability and production points also go to Germanier, with Swiss-born designer Kevin Germanier’s innovative use of waste materials hopefully offering plenty more dazzle in the label’s first official PFW presentation on Friday. Rahul Mishra’s trademark intricate embroidery, produced by Indian artisans in their home villages, has also gone from strength to strength – Mishra’s first official entrance into the couture schedule this past January offering some truly jaw-dropping, 3D-embroidered flora and fauna. With his presentation on Saturday, all eyes are on what crafted flights of fancy he’ll offer next.
Other presentations to note this PFW include Nicolas Lecourt Mansion on Thursday, the young designer building on a breakout year in 2019 in which he was awarded the ANDAM Creative Label Prize for his flamboyant, tightly tailored garments. Also see Alexandre Vauthier’s exaggerated glamour and impeccable tailoring on Friday and Georges Hobeika’s vivid colours and meticulous craftsmanship on Sunday.
New beginnings
After an eight-year tenure at Lacoste ending in 2018, Felipe Oliveira Baptista is presenting his first show as creative director at Kenzo as the LVMH-owned label makes its way back onto the official schedule. Taking over from Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, the duo behind New York-based brand Opening Ceremony, Baptista’s debut on Wednesday is one of the anticipated highlights of the week. It’s a big year for the brand. Set up in 1970 by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada and quickly building a reputation for clashing textiles, eclectic references and an easy-going sartorial attitude, it marks its 50th anniversary this year. Speaking last year on his appointment Baptista said, “Kenzo is all about contagious freedom and movement. Everything Mr Takada did was suffused with joy, elegance, and a youthful and bold sense of humour.” The fashion world awaits his interpretation of the label’s irreverent image with interest.
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Lively Instagram-first brand Coperni also returns on Tuesday 25 February after an aptly tech-conscious turn last season with a public talk at an Apple Store. Two more additions to watch are Noir Kei Ninomiya, who has risen rapidly from the Comme des Garçons showroom to official schedule as his playfully ambitious architectural designs have gained ground (showing on Saturday) and Paris-based label Gauchère bringing its boxy tailoring to the proceedings on Tuesday 3 March.
Curtain calls and notable absences
Alongside new appointments and official schedule debuts, this season also heralds final shows from creative directors moving on to pastures new. Alessandro Dell’Acqua is leaving Rochas after six years, with a replacement yet to be announced. Other brands going through periods of transition have skipped PFW altogether, Courrèges instead presenting creative director Yolanda Zobel’s final pastel-hued collection for the fashion house by appointment back in January.
Manish Arora is also absent from the schedule. And as the fashion world continues to grapple with the consequences of coronavirus, affecting not only factory production but travel from China for staff, press and buyers, six Chinese designers have had to cancel scheduled events: Masha Ma, Uma Wang, Jarel Zhang, Maison Mai, Calvin Luo and Shiatzy Chen.
The blockbusters
Paris still lays claim to many of fashion’s most beloved household names – from Louis Vuitton to Balenciaga to Dior, taking in Pierpaolo Piccioli’s romantic visions at Valentino and Clare Waight Keller’s polished lines at Givenchy along the way. At Chanel, Virginie Viard continues to feel out a new way forward for the brand, nodding to the legacy of both Karl Lagerfeld and Coco Chanel while subtly trying to establish her own mood for the heritage label. And talking of returning to one’s roots, after drawing heavily on Celine’s Seventies archives last season, Hedi Slimane’s next outing for the brand will be on Friday; having skipped Men’s Fashion Week, we’ve been promised a co-ed show for AW20.
Elsewhere, Loewe continues to thrive under Jonathan Anderson, while with Stella McCartney’s SS20 collection apparently her most ethical yet (comprised of 75 per cent zero-impact fabrics and introducing new innovations including Koba faux fur), her next show will hopefully offer even more sustainable possibilities. And after a thoughtful, somewhat retrospective SS20 collection from Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, full of upcycled fabrics and revitalised patterns from the hands of both Burton and McQueen, this season is a sombre anniversary for the label – marking ten years since McQueen’s death. Presenting on Monday 2 March, the show will potentially garner even more notice than usual as the fashion world remembers his tragic loss.
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