Paris Fashion Week: LV’s shimmer, Chanel’s tailored suits, and McCartney’s recycled wool

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STELLA MCCARTNEY

LOUIS VUITTON

CHANEL

BALENCIAGA

PARIS — Louis Vuitton (LV) womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquiere celebrated his 10th anniversary at the LVMH-owned label with a fashion show that drew crowds to the Louvre Museum at nightfall last Tuesday, the last day of Paris Fashion Week. (Watch the show here: Women’s Fall-Winter 2024 Show | https://tinyurl.com/2974c4jh )

Guests crossed the famous museum’s sprawling Cour Carree — some pausing for photos in booths decorated with LV logos — to reach the venue, a tent that filled an inner courtyard.

It resembled a 19th century French covered market in iron and glass — but with a hulking, futuristic globe with blinking tubes in the center.

“This is a meaningful evening,” the designer wrote in the show notes, a letter to the audience tucked in an envelope left on each seat, recalling the joy of his first show for the label. “Ten years later, this evening is a new dawn.”

An atmospheric soundtrack with scratchy noises and buzzing neon sounds culminated in Mirwais’ “Disco Science.”

Models marched down the runway briskly, in rhythm with the music, showcasing voluminous mini-skirts, shimmery dresses, jewel-encrusted jackets and sheer, light-weight trousers.

Some wore furry mittens, others had knit hats with a flat fold that bounced down the runway, while handbags came in various shapes and sizes.

CHANEL
Chanel designer Virginie Viard sent models down a boardwalk runway evoking the French seaside resort town Deauville, parading tailored suits in tweed, long overcoats and broad sun hats. (Watch the show here: Fall-Winter 2024/25 Ready-to-Wear Show | https://tinyurl.com/28tgpwqx )

The show kicked off with a short film starring Penelope Cruz and Brad Pitt — a nod to Claude Lelouch’s 1966 romantic drama A Man and a Woman. The pair stroll along an empty beach, order steaks and red wine in a restaurant — the scenes featuring shots of a prominently placed Chanel handbag — and the vignette closes with Ms. Cruz’s character calling to the waitress, played by model Rianne Van Rompaey: “Excuse me — sorry, do you have any rooms available?”

The audience burst into applause, and the first model marched out in a mini-skirt, thigh-high boots and long overcoat, her face framed by a wide hat, her handbag swinging.

A series of tweed ensembles followed, with wide-legged trousers and split skirts, as well as handbags of all shapes and sizes.

Adding a contemporary flair, the designer included a short puffer jacket, shearling coats and a shiny black leather jumpsuit in the lineup.

STELLA MCCARTNEY
Stella McCartney drew her audience to a giant greenhouse in a Paris park for her winter runway presentation, where she showed a collection made from recycled wool, nylon, cotton and polyester under bright sunlight. (Watch the show here: Stella McCartney Winter 2024 Runway Show | https://tinyurl.com/2b29u2pp)

Images of melting icebergs flashed on screens as Olivia Colman’s voice rang out on the soundtrack, meant to represent Mother Earth, asking “what will be left of me, after you?”

Models strode onto the runway parading loosely tailored suits with prominent shoulders and low-cut trousers, silky dresses cut asymmetrically, leather-like trench coats made from apple-based material, and hulking cape-like coats made with patchworks of wool.

After the show, Ms. McCartney paused for photos with a stream of guests, including her father Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, model Paris Jackson, and actress Charlotte Rampling, before huddling with journalists.

Questions focused on the environment, and Ms. McCartney said she preferred positivity to anger when it came to messaging. “It is one of the most harmful industries on the planet and we’re acting like it isn’t,” she said of the fashion industry, noting the idea was to relay a “polite reminder” and offer some solutions.

LVMH group managing director Antonio Belloni described Ms. McCartney’s role in the luxury group as a sort of “muse” for the group on environmental topics, citing her long experience.

Ms. McCartney founded her label in 2001 with a pledge not to use leather or fur, and joined LVMH in 2019.

BALENCIAGA
Balenciaga designer Demna showed a lineup of new styles constructed from repurposed garments for his winter show in Paris, which he sent down a screen-lined runway to an audience that included Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams. (Watch the show here: Winter 24 | https://tinyurl.com/24qaznym)

Models paraded clothing that was pressed together into new shapes, including tops made from jeans, the legs wrapped around the neck, gowns pieced together from an assortment of lingerie and T-shirts layered with tank tops.

The front panel of a dress was a flattened backpack, while a pair of button-up shirts were affixed together with clear tape — one on the front, the other on the back.

“I wanted this show to represent a link between the past and the future of Balenciaga as a house based on creative value,” said Demna in a voice message, delivered to guests via a QR code.

The designer said it reflected an aesthetic he has been developing over the past decade, and that silhouettes were directly inspired by the fashion house’s founder Cristobal Balenciaga.

The Kering-owned label, which sells a large version of its Rodeo handbag for 4,200 euros and visor-like “24/7 Mask” sunglasses for 2,500 euros, is ramping up advertising investments this year after pulling back following a controversy linked to an ad campaign over a year ago that affected sales in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Rising living costs have also prompted a pull-back in spending from fashion shoppers, particularly younger generations.

Balenciaga, has continued to grow sales in Asia, however, outperforming rivals in China, and plans to hold a runway show in Shanghai in May. — Reuters