10 Of Our Favorite Runway Shows In Paris Fashion Week
The city of love has found a number of new muses!
The desire to escape society for a couple moments by means of a tantalizing escape is a concept known by many, and accepted by a few. Fashion, as a means of art, has a natural ability to draw in its aficionados into a fantasy of epic proportions. Be it the simple pastime of dressing up in front of a mirror, to its highest form of ensembles on a runway. The genius of narrative and the proficiency of skill whisk us away into an artistry of wearable art—and who would ever reject the possibility of being a muse?
At Paris Fashion Week, the desolate problems of the world surrounding are forgotten by the bright lights of runway shows. The home to many extravagant museums becomes its own hall for creative display as the most glamorous fashion houses showcase their best works of art for the new season. Against the backdrops of the lovely French countryside and the bustling Parisian city, PFW is the perfect intersection for all who wish to be enchanted.
With many of the world’s biggest luxury brands finding their home in Paris, it’s no surprise that a star-studded recap is in session. From fashion house signatures, to unconventional surprises, PFW has everything for those who seek to enter its alluring reverie. Here’s our pick of top 10 runway shows at PFW S/S 2023 that manage to leave us in awe even after the show is through.
PFW S/S 2023
PFW S/S 2023
Balmain
Balmain is here to make a statement on environmentalism amidst a gorgeous collection. When faced with the longstanding proposition that fashion is as unsustainable as it is terribly transitory, Olivier Rousteing introduces a shift to the eventual trickle down in the industry’s behemoth of a supply chain.
Photo Credit: Photo by Daniele Oberrauch via Gorunway.com
In a stunning array of couture, menswear and ready-to-wear looks made out of paper, banana and even wicker, Balmain’s attempt at broadcasting a down-to-earth message during a show-in-the-clouds is as tasteful as it is artistic.
Photo Credit: Daniele Oberrauch via Gorunway.com Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Chanel
Virginie Viard’s Chanel showcase is an expert retrospective on who Chanel was and a glimpse into the future that the fashion house may promise itself to become. With a variety of body types walking down the runway, Viard highlights female beauty and the brand’s desire to uplift and embrace it.
Photo Credit: Photo by Isidore Montag via Gorunway.com
In stunning archetypal black ensembles, and the occasional hints of color, paired with crystal-studded accessories, the Chanel woman of today is any woman willing to exude opulence, confidence in glamour. Be it in a suit, a coat dress, a cardigan or shorts.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Dior
Maria Grazia Chiuri is no stranger to the integration of a deep-cut narrative into a stunning collection of reimagined beauty. At Dior, the Italian creative director highlights the dialogue that fashion and power have engaged in since the early days of the former’s rise to vanity. Italian noblewoman turned French queen Catherine de Medic is the collection’s central muse.
Photo Credit: Photo by Filippo Fior via Gorunway.com
Perfect for royalty, the collection’s neutral nuances and intricacies don’t stray away from the timeless New Look that Monsieur Dior himself would have been proud of. The culmination of past and present to commemorate the future with technological innovation is breathtaking.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Hermès
Not just the concept of an escape became the inspiration for Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, rather the concrete phenomenon of people going out to explore the world especially after years of lockdowns and staring at the same four walls. The Hermès SS23 show is a scene for camping, or rather glamping.
Photo Credit: Photo by Isidore Montag via Gorunway.com
The utilitarian design of the collection offers its escape through desert colors that are a sharp contrast to the urban existence we choose to engage with. The long-distance travel calls for heavy duty gear that Hermès is more than willing to put an opulent spin on. Enter leather jackets, strappy garments and the all-rounder jumpsuits.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Loewe
JW Anderson is a master of pushing fashion’s frontier further by asking relevant questions to society while expertly pairing these introspections with subversive creativity. See, Loewe’s SS23 runway, where Anderson begs the question of fashion and its function on the woman: is bigger, better? Or a manufactured hindrance to growth?
Photo Credit: Photo by Daniele Oberrauch via Gorunway.com
A break in the illusion of feminine-defined patterns, Anderson knows what he’s doing despite the campiness of fiberglass flowers and pixelated tops down the runway. Loewe’s display is eclectic as it is self-aware, and we can’t wait to see what boundaries the brand pushes next, or how Anderson will continue to up the ante.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Louis Vuitton
In a surrealist attempt at scaling up the mundane to appear larger than life, Louis Vuitton sends an even bigger message than just taking up space. Nicolas Ghesquière recalls about his disruption of feminine expectations, “The idea was to look at something pretty, something sweet, and to see in those elements what strength they have.”
Photo Credit: Photo from Isidore Montag via Gorunway.com
In partnership with French artist Philippe Parreno—who created the show’s art installation of a set—the hyperbolic necklines, three-dimensional textures and crystal-studded pieces were also a way for the two longtime friends to break some personal boundaries and go back to their childish beginnings.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Off-White
In an homage to the fashion movement that is Off-White that Virgil Abloh had started, newly appointed Image and Art Director Ibrahim Kamara chooses to continue Abloh’s initial prospect of expanding on the human body, “Virgil was always thinking ahead. He was almost in another universe.”
Photo Credit: Photo by Daniele Oberrauch via Gorunway.com
The quintessential “work-in-progress” detail that Off-White does so effortlessly is manifested through expert tailoring and slashing of constructed elements. With holes used to expose the navel and stitching used as a contour map of muscles and organs beneath the suiting, the message is clear: clothes are but an imprint of the body beneath.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Rick Owens
One thing Rick Owens wishes to peddle with his SS23 show is to maneuver away from the traditional idea of travel through the monotony of an airport. With lockdown bans lifted and the desire to jet-set across the world bunching at everyone’s feet, the air of privilege and aspiration it draws makes Owens look askance at such a plain proposal.
Photo Credit: Photo by Salvatore Dragone via Gorunway.com
Instead, he provides his personal take of escape and seeing the world, through his “Edfu” collection for SS23 inspired by Egypt. The eponymous label has been known for expert drapery, zip front bombers and exaggerated sleeves, but who could deny such details when done so expertly? This neutral refresher on the abstract idea of jet-setting is one we’re willing to empathize with, but only if Rick Owens is the captain.
Photo Credit: Photo by Acielle via Style Du Monde
Valentino
If you were nowhere to be seen on the internet for the past year, Valentino gave the world a splash of color introducing the crazed Hot Pink trend. But if there’s anything this collection wishes to say it’s that we’re going back to the basics. Amidst a world saturated with color, the deep and dark hues of Valentino’s SS23 runway are a breath of fresh air.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Valentino
Pierpaolo Piccioli sure knows how to make a statement, and a very visual one at that. The iconic V logo of the fashion house was stamped everywhere you could find, but with such stunning pieces only a fool would be ashamed to affix their signature. Who else is ready to embrace the fashion house’s notion of minimalism this upcoming season? We know we are!
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Valentino
Saint Laurent
If there’s one thing that Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello has established at Saint Laurent, it’s the brand’s physicality and celebration of confidence, strength and glory. The muted colors of the brand are welcomed with the rich suave leanness emphasizing the attitude that comes with dressing to the nines.
Photo Credit: Photo by Filippo Fior via Gorunway.com
The columnar appeal of Saint Laurent feels anything but constricting as its expert tailoring speaks volumes of its sophistication. Vaccarello empowers the modern wearer of Saint Laurent with polished looks from head-to-toe that are potently powerful and debonair.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Yves Saint Laur
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