71 shows, 38 presentations, and a total of approximately 109 events. These are the huge numbers of the Paris Fashion Week FW24 Women’s which kicks off today with the shows by Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Vaquera, and CFCL. The appointments to look forward to are quite numerous: the new shows by Saint Laurent, The Row, and Undercover, and the second collection by Stefano Gallici for Ann Demeulemeester are just a few of the most anticipated events on a calendar that includes the already familiar names of Rick Owens, Chanel, Loewe, and the entire vast universe of designers that populate the Parisian scene. This year, however, among big comebacks, highly anticipated shows, and excellent debuts, the attention on the capital of French fashion appears to be multiplied a hundredfold.
So, here’s what to expect from the Paris Fashion Week FW24 Women’s.
1. Off-White returns to the runway after a year
We had previously discussed the implications of Ib Kamara and Off-White’s return to the Paris schedule, how after last year’s show and after two presentations via lookbook, the brand needs to return with a strong identity that can both pay homage to Virgil Abloh and emerge from his shadow as an autonomous entity capable of standing on its own. There is no doubt that the team behind the brand (which has continued to record strong sales figures) has put even more effort into a show that is eagerly awaited and will surely represent a new chapter in the great saga of streetwear in fashion as well as the ideal continuation of Virgil Abloh’s work three years after his untimely passing.
2. The new era of Alexander McQueen, Chloé, Rochas, and Lacoste
Seán McGirr for McQueen, Chemena Kamali for Chloé, Alessandro Vigilante for Rochas, and Pelagia Kolotouros for Lacoste. For the four brands we’ve listed, the next few days will mark the beginning of a new era: if McGirr has revived interest in the (forgotten) darker and more transgressive side of Alexander McQueen, fashion bettors are placing high stakes on Chemena Kamali and her new Chloé. There is also great anticipation surrounding Lacoste’s show, which will take place next Tuesday just before the close of the week, and which will mark the popular brand’s attempt to elevate its long heritage, while our own Alessandro Vigilante, a name so far very Milanese, will show us his new conception for Rochas after the brief era of Charles De Vilmorin.
3. Nicolas Ghesquiere’s decade at Louis Vuitton
If there’s a brand that loves to do things big, it’s definitely Louis Vuitton, which, in addition to closing fashion week, will celebrate this year the culmination of the love story between the brand and Nicolas Ghesquiere, which has been going on for ten years and will continue thanks to the designer’s recent contract renewal. So there is no doubt that the first brand of French fashion, as well as the most profitable purebred of the LVMH stable, will spare no expense on celebrities, location, and collection – expect something monumental.
4. Obviously, Miu Miu
For several years now, the Parisian appointment with Miu Miu, which almost always comes at the end of the week, is the most anticipated and important of all: not only because the brand is the most sought after and desired at the moment but also because its collections, styled with the impeccable hand of Lotta Volkova, indicate the direction that fashion will follow in the coming months and reveal what could be the trends and obsessions of the entire future year.
5. Anna Wintour’s event for Joe Biden
This fundraiser, organized in the holy city of fashion by the official high priestess of the entire industry, and in honor of the Democratic candidate for the upcoming American presidential elections, is perhaps an absolute first in the history of Paris Fashion Week. To our memory, in fact, fashion and politics often dialogue profitably but never take each other’s arm: Anna Wintour‘s decision to organize such an event, in such a tense and charged political climate (just a few days ago, Attac protesters hung the sign “Tax the Rich” on the facade of Louis Vuitton’s new hotel on the Champs-Élysées) promises not only to be a dance of the most opulent, but also to court all sorts of controversy.