sophisticated outfits for summer nights

If a few years ago streetwear was on all the catwalks, times have changed. Perhaps because it is easier to justify stratospheric luxury prices with ready-made and embellished garments, the spring-summer 2025 fashion week, which concluded in Paris on 1^Ahem October offered very formal and evening dressing, especially among designers.

Stella McCartney invited her guests to a parade on Avenue de Saxe, where a market is held on Thursdays and Saturdays. Her collection, however, is not entirely suitable for shopping: a Ferrari red vegetal leather dress, tight and draped, a microdress with a long train that treads the asphalt, a suit with shoulders embroidered with rhinestones, a cape dress shiny that obstructs the arms, bubble jacket like a cotton cloud… Although some sportier looks sneak in here and there, the outfit is clearly intended to shine at night.

“It is a collection to elevate yourself, to look at things from another perspective, from above, like birds”motto of the designer, who enhances her work with doves printed on fabric, wrapped in fabric or sculpted in gold. The animal symbolizes his environmental convictions (no animal leather, many recycled materials, etc.), always at the center of his creation. But good intentions are not enough to make this wardrobe very wearable, nor very desirable, especially if you show up on a rainy Monday morning.

Gabriela Hearst also has good intentions, as well as ambition. The American-Uruguayan designer wants to offer a luxurious and virtuous wardrobe, sourcing the best cotton from Barbadian farms that do not need to water their plantations (torrential rains do the job) and having her associations value her jerseys. of South American women victims of violence…

Presented in the gardens of the Pozzo di Borgo mansion, their show highlights beautiful materials, from soft furs to cashmere sewn with glass beads, that stand alone. Few decorations in her strapless dresses or dresses with puffed sleeves, midi skirts, leather suits, trench coats with bows… Gabriela Hearst has so far shown in New York, where her tasteful fashion has found an audience: the brand registers a double-digit growth for several years. Will this chic wardrobe, undoubtedly very suitable for New York cocktail parties, be enough to conquer Paris? “Being here makes me want to invest even more and aim higher”assures the designer. Who undoubtedly has the necessary resources, both economic and creative, to achieve his goal.

Long floating candles

Victoria Beckham saw things big this season when she walked in Bagatelle Park, just outside the Bois de Boulogne. Always in search of legitimacy in fashion, the former Spice Girl intends to move up the ranks. The first silhouettes show blouses as if molded on the chest, whose sides escape towards the back or neck and end their journey in the form of long floating veils.

These sculptural tops also accompany wide pants, low on the hips, asymmetrical and with the leg open along the length. Victoria Beckham continues her stylistic experiments with evening dresses draped over the shoulders, trouser suits that reveal transparent jumpsuits or even short strapless dresses that evoke the corollas of a flower. A night wardrobe designed for women who are proud of their body and want to show it off. But, due to its complexity, the result is confusing and not always happy.

The deconstruction of clothing is truly the specialty of Chitose Abe, who has run her brand Sacai since 1999. Although she is more accustomed to applying it in an urban wardrobe, the Japanese is trying it this season in more elegant garments, which do not stand out during dinners. social. “We just opened offices in Paris, which is probably why I wanted to inject a bit of Parisian elegance into the collection.”explains the Japanese designer, in the loft of 10^my district where the parade took place.

Here, each of the silhouettes is made up of a single piece, which is difficult to detect with the naked eye since the ruffles, tulle overlays or draping that escapes from the back blur the lines. We remember the bow collars of the short dresses with ruffles or even this pea coat slanted back, exposing the shoulders under iridescent tulle. A particularly successful collection.

At Isabel Marant, which has traveled and escaped its breeding ground since its beginnings in 1994, we do not change a recipe that has proven its effectiveness. Presented as always in the main courtyard of the Palais-Royal, the spring-summer 2025 wardrobe is a mix of what the Frenchwoman knows how to do, that is, a simple and bohemian wardrobe, which evokes the spray of the sea and hot sand.

But, between her printed blouses and her small suede jackets, the imaginary tourist does not forget in her suitcases clothes designed for the night: fine knit dresses, completely transparent or fastened with metal buckles on the chest or stomach. “It’s an evening a little quieter than usual, more refined”explain Isabel Marant and Kim Bekker, artistic director of the brand. The collection has the merit of being truly summery, but the brand, present on the fashion scene for thirty years, would benefit from further renewal in order to win over a new clientele.