Amidst five days of violence in the city, Paris’s couture fashion week was started off by notable designers and celebrities. The event is taking place against the backdrop of Paris’s ongoing unrest.
A number of famous people from the United States are currently in the city of Paris, including rap sensation Cardi B, singer Camila Cabello, and actress Maisie Williams.
Following severe social disturbance, however, there is some discomfort regarding the displays of materialism that are being put on by the ultra-wealthy.
Others claimed that those involved in the fashion industry were “tone deaf” and advocated for the cancellation of catwalk displays and cocktail parties.
Lisa Armstrong, the head of fashion at The Telegraph, recently published an article in which she stated that “these heavily scented, diamond-encrusted, removed-from-every-reality clients can seem weird even in normal times, but this week, they seem almost surreally tone deaf.”
She went on to say that one of the attendees remarked that it was “quite odd to see how the big French brands haven’t acknowledged what’s going on at all in their own country.” She also mentioned that this comment was made by the attendee.
The fatal shooting of a teenager named Nahel M during a traffic stop by French police officers was the catalyst for the violence that broke out in Paris and other French cities, although it appeared that the unrest had diminished by Monday.
Also on Monday, the first haute couture collections were revealed. Haute couture is the most prestigious sub-business of the fashion industry. In this sub-industry, consumers pay eye-popping sums of money to have gowns designed specifically for them.
There was just one major label, Celine, that decided to completely cancel a show as a direct result of the riots. Some labels, such as Chloe, did cancel events scheduled for the weekend.
Its menswear show on Sunday, which was not scheduled to be a part of the official calendar for fashion week but was reported to have been planned to incorporate live music acts as an expression of French young culture, did not take place.
A fashion show in Paris, while France and its city are bereaved and scarred, seems… callous and entirely wrong,” the designer Hedi Slimane remarked on Instagram. “a fashion show in Paris, while France and its capital are grieved and bruised.”
Others, however, were unconcerned and continued with their exhibitions on Monday, which were respectively influenced by Greek goddesses at Christian Dior, fine art at Schiaparelli, and mermaids at Iris Van Herpen.
That they are proceeding untroubled by upheaval in less affluent regions of the city is probably a reflection of the polarization that drives the situation in France, as Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian observed.
According to EJ Dickson of Rolling Stone magazine, some influential people are responding as though the protests have “mildly inconvenienced” them.
Cardi B went to the capital of France and attended the presentation of Schiaparelli’s haute couture fall/winter 2023-2024 fashion collection.
The celebrity praised the show by calling it “beautiful” while posting a picture of her dress on Instagram. After the fact, she remarked to Vogue, “They always have an amazing show, so what’s new?” “It never ceases to take me by surprise.”
In the meantime, Dior showed its most recent collection, which was inspired by a classical age, in the grounds of the Musée Rodin. The collection focused on neutral colors and textiles, such as beige, gold, and white, as well as modest “ancient garments” such as tunics and capes.
According to Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of the brand, such pieces are “not only for the red carpet” but are actually intended for consumers to “build a wardrobe”
The aquatic and futuristic collection that was shown by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen was seen by a gathering that included Camila Cabello and Pharrell Williams. Iris van Herpen’s designs are frequently seen on red carpets and are featured in Beyonce’s Renaissance tour.
At the Chanel presentation held on Tuesday on the banks of the Seine, notable attendees included Margaret Qualley, Lupita Nyong’o, and Jenna Coleman, as well as musician Kendrick Lamar and directors George Lucas and Baz Luhrmann.
The American designer Thom Browne and the young Frenchman Charles de Vilmorin, 26 years old, both made their couture debuts on Monday. Charles de Vilmorin presented his own brand after having temporarily served as the artistic director of Rochas.
The Frenchman expressed his happiness to the news agency, saying, “I’m super happy to have lived through all of this and to do my first show.”
