At Paris Fashion Week, the divergent lines of Dior and Saint Laurent

At the beginning of autumn, the fashion industry is in a bad mood, but Paris is shining. The summer period does not seem to have given a boost to the global consumption of luxury goods, while the Olympic and Paralympic Games have effectively restored the image of the capital. The city has demonstrated its ability to organize incredible events in its heritage sites or outdoors.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Games also gave pride of place to young designers, most of whom will be parading at the Spring/Summer 2025 Fashion Week, which will be held from 23 to 1 September.^Ahem October. The Haute Couture and Fashion Federation hopes that this aura will benefit Paris in the long term and reinforce its status as an international fashion capital.

This season seems to have gotten off to a good start. All the French heavyweights are present, including Chanel, which has still not announced an artistic director since the departure of Virginie Viard in June. Foreigners keep coming: Alessandro Michele will present his first show for the Roman house Valentino on September 29, a day before Gabriela Hearst, who dropped out of New York Fashion Week.

In total, forty presentations and sixty-six shows are scheduled for the official calendar, not counting the brands that, for lack of space or talent, have not managed to make it but are still taking part (LVMH prize-winner Hodakova, the Danish brand Ganni, etc.). The only drawback is that, as organising a Parisian event has become very expensive, some established brands have preferred to give it up (such as Ludovic de Saint Sernin or Y/Project).

Tuesday, the second day of fashion week, is usually the day of the catwalk shows of two competing houses: Dior (LVMH) and Saint Laurent (Kering). Both, under pressure from the tense economic context, react in antagonistic ways, reflecting the strategies of the groups to which they belong.

Dior is taking a maximalist turn: a giant tent is set up at the Rodin Museum, where the arrival of countless stars generates crowds both outside and inside. Rosalía, Anya Taylor-Joy, Natalie Portman, Yseult, Aya Nakamura, Brigitte Macron, the Queen of Norway, Isabelle Adjani, Rosamund Pike, Jisoo… the security guards no longer know who to turn to, and the long glass corridor that separates them from the space in two does not make their task any easier. This transparent corridor serves as a playground for the Italian artist and athlete Sagg Napoli, who shoots arrows while the models parade and the deafening techno of DJ Gigola vibrates the dance floor.

Asymmetry of shapes

Faithful to her taste for antiquity and feminism, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri worked on the figure of the Amazon. In the archives of Christian Dior, she found a black wool afternoon dress called “Amazone” (1951), whose asymmetry of shapes and volumes served as a guiding principle for her to develop a more contemporary wardrobe, with many knitted tops and dresses with only one strap or one sleeve.

A very graphic 1970s “Dior” logo with its elongated letters is repeated in black and white, furtively along a jogging leg, a bit like the Adidas stripes, huge on a trench coat or a luxurious cashmere jacket, also scattered on bags and shoes. Pretty wrap or draped vestal dresses complete this black and white ensemble.

“Right now people want timeless things, it’s not necessarily the time to add color”motto Maria Grazia Chiuri, who, in her constant desire to create a wardrobe at a time “functional and desirable”He is not taking the risk of renewing himself, despite his eight years at the helm of Dior femme. Black, logo and lots of celebrities: the house plays it safe, even if that means becoming a caricature.

To the gigantic nature of Dior, Saint Laurent prefers small groups and this season is staging its show on the rue de Bellechasse, in the former Penthemont Abbey, which houses the brand’s offices. A circular open-air structure has been set up in the centre of the paved courtyard. The minimalist decor is reduced to a play of colours, the golden panels reflecting their warm light on a Majorelle blue lacquered floor. The models arrive at a leisurely pace, carefully placing their very high heels on the rain-soaked surface.

First, they wore suits with pronounced shoulders, double-breasted jackets, wide-tailed shirts, ties, loose trousers and thick-framed glasses, like feminine and sensual replicas of Yves Saint Laurent. Then, designer Anthony Vaccarello, who had a habit, during his last shows, of developing a single idea, punctuated his collection with unexpected touches, such as silk pajamas with paisley motifs or low-cut blouses with a long skirt in muslin crossed with gold threads.

The last part is the most surprising: “a fireworks castle of improbable colors”As Anthony Vaccarello sums it up, the colourful silk brocade jackets with rhinestone buttons are paired with ruffled skirts and lace blouses with an excess of gold, sunflowers, carmine and turquoise! ​​A joyful kitsch, bordering on bad taste, evoking the YSL of the late 1980s.

“In an interview in the early 2000s, a journalist asked Yves Saint Laurent to define the Saint Laurent woman, and he replied: “It’s me.” I wanted to transcribe this complexity.”explains the designer. Will the multicoloured brocade be a hit in stores? I’m not sure. Still, Anthony Vaccarello manages to share a fresh and personal vision of a brand with a rich past.