Paris-2025 boasts a new kind of chic

PARIS:

A historic Paris Fashion Week has concluded after 10 days of Spring-Summer 2026 womenswear shows, featuring many new faces and hailed by critics as marking a "return to elegance."

This season in Paris, which ran through October 7, felt especially electric due to a significant creative shake-up across the sector, following a momentous Milan Fashion Week.

This season featured a record number of designer debuts as brands across the industry seek creative reboots to spark interest from inflation-weary shoppers.

Around 10 labels in Paris were under new direction, with "questions of succession and creative renewal" arising everywhere at once, according to Chanel fashion boss Bruno Pavlovsky.

The major shake-up saw a procession of new designers take their first bows at their new houses. These included Matthieu Blazy's first collection for Chanel, Jonathan Anderson's womenswear debut at Dior, and Pierpaolo Piccioli's first steps at Balenciaga.

Duran Lantink also made headlines by returning Jean Paul Gaultier to ready-to-wear. While Blazy's new collection for Chanel was widely praised, critics were more divided over the offerings from Dior and Balenciaga.

Some critics noted that despite the new faces, there was "no creative shock." Marc Beauge, editor of French fashion magazine L'Etiquette, described the collections as primarily "commercial and reassuring," exercises in "creativity under constraint" where the priority was to "reassure and avoid losing existing clients, rather than taking risks."

However, Pierre Groppo, fashion editor at Vanity Fair France, countered that "there's definitely a fresh breeze on the catwalks." Overall, the overarching trend this season was a return to elegance, with everything "softened" and a definite move away from streetwear, according to fashion journalist Marie Ottavi.

This new sensibility was described as "craving more elegance, with delicacy and at times a touch of flamboyance," often referencing the refined silhouettes of the 1920s and 1950s, according to Simon Longland, chief fashion buyer at Harrods.

In terms of specific looks, skirts were long, with ruffles, fringed with feathers, or pleated. Dresses were light and airy, often with floral motifs. Nonetheless, there was still plenty of skin on display, with skirts slit and tops having exaggerated cutaways.

Sheer materials and "naked dresses" featured on many runways, including Vivienne Westwood and Schiaparelli, where chief designer Daniel Roseberry sent out model Kendall Jenner in an eye-catching black version.

The humble white shirt also looks like it will be a must-have, appearing everywhere, including at the Chanel show, where new face Nicole Kidman wore one paired with wide jeans.

At Balenciaga, it came with a train and wide black trousers. Carven transformed it into an inverted dress, while at Saint Laurent, it was closed with an oversized bow or worn provocatively open.

For specific house collections, Matthieu Blazy's debut for Chanel was a major moment, transforming its runway into a glittering galaxy with planets seemingly floating above the audience.

The set whispered of galaxies far away, but the clothes spoke of women here and now: strong, free, luminous. Blazy played with proportions and lightness in tweed imagined for "explorers, dreamers," with metallic threads woven through like stardust and airy dresses.

Jonathan Anderson's womenswear debut at Dior, a house he joined in March, showed a new aesthetic for women's ready-to-wear. The show, held in the Tuileries Gardens, started with a fast-paced film styled like a black-and-white horror film.

Anderson loosened the famous nipped-waist bar jacket, adding volume at the back and pairing it with a pleated mini skirt that also jutted out.

The collection, which included long wool capes, suit jackets with high collars, and dresses that opened in the back, was described as a "collection of contrasts—couture against everyday ease, femininity with androgyny, covered versus sheer," marking "a bold new chapter" at the brand.

At Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli, who stepped in after years at Valentino, showed a collection that was one of the most talked-about of the week. He injected the house known for sharp, almost brutalist modernity with romance through bold colour, generous draping, and a poetic softness woven into the structure.

Louis Vuitton womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquiere, one of a handful of designers to remain in place amid the broad creative reset, showed his collection in a southern wing of the Louvre Museum.

The models paraded soft knits, silky pyjama-like trousers, and loose bermudas, reflecting the "serenity that you can feel when you are in the comfort of your home." The looks included knit bermudas, cardigans with deep pockets, and robe-like coats.

Victoria Beckham showed a collection of slip dresses, roomy suits, and soft, leather jackets with crinkled edges for her namesake label's spring summer runway show, held at the 17th-century Val-de-Grace abbey.

The collection was described as an "abstract adaptation of the coming-of-age wardrobe," with models parading dresses cut in asymmetric shapes, uneven hems, and low-waisted trousers.

Hermes designer Nadege Vanhee, who has held her position for over a decade, sent out a collection of brassiere tops, quilted silk coats, and racer-backed dresses.

Models marched around a sand-covered set in tall riding boots, wearing sandy-coloured shirts, skirts, and brassiere ensembles, cinched snugly with leather straps and lacework. The colour palette was dominated by muted beige and khaki tones, with a few touches of bright red.

Stella McCartney showed a summer collection packed with cocktail dresses in new, feathery materials, further expanding the range of textures used by her label, known for an ecological bent.

The show, which included short dresses made from piles of raffia and pastel gowns in an airy plant-based feather alternative, kicked off with British screen legend Helen Mirren reading out the lyrics from her father's Beatles hit "Come Together."

Smaller labels often devised the most interesting shows. French designer Alain Paul, a former ballet dancer, recreated an audition hall for his show.

Gauchere, run by German designer Marie-Christine Statz, presented her new looks through a dance performance created by celebrated French choreographer Benjamin Millepied. Casablanca, the brand of Franco-Moroccan couturier Charaf Tajer, staged its show on an apple-green carpet inside the American Cathedral in Paris to the sound of a gospel choir blended with house music.

The week also saw significant celeb-spotting. Saint Laurent began the week with a spectacular show in front of an illuminated Eiffel Tower with many bright lights from the entertainment industry in attendance, including Madonna and Charli XCX.

The Chanel show was the hottest ticket, with crowds waiting for glimpses of A-listers such as Penelope Cruz, Kendall Jenner, Pedro Pascal, Tilda Swinton, and Angele. Louis Vuitton, with Zendaya and Emma Stone, and Dior, with Johnny Depp and Jenna Ortega, were their usual celeb magnets.

The most unexpected sight was the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, settling down on the front row of Balenciaga in a show of support for former Valentino designer Piccioli.

Other notable attendees included K-pop stars Jimin and Jisoo at Dior, and Lisa (who posed with French first lady Brigitte Macron) and Felix at Louis Vuitton. Stella McCartney's show was watched by rapper Ice Spice and model Cara Delevingne among others.