King of Controversy

Paris fashion week is always “a moment” Mais Oui, its Paris, the city with illuminated bridges and a sparkling tower could never fade into the background, as the final fashion week of the season you could say they save the best ’til last.

This season there were a few firsts including Victoria Beckhams inaugural Paris Fashion Week Show, and the first Issey Miyake Show since the designers death, plus plenty of controversy most of it centred around Kanye West.

Victoria Beckham showed her namesake collection in the City of Lights for the first time ever, having won over her sceptics in New York and London, this latest move to Paris was a bold one, having brought in a new design team and implemented a lower price point (no doubt to entice any customers on the fence about spending on cocktail wear) the collection was polished and refined enough to gain positive reviews, but still sexy enough to appeal to her existing customer base.

Not since Lee Alexander McQueens legendary shows have we seen wizardry on the catwalks, his showmanship was the stuff fashion dreams were made of, so watching the designers at the Coperni show spray paint latex onto model Bella Hadids naked form and then sculpt it into a gown was quite the spectacle. I think we can safely say this technique wont be available to customers, then why you ask? PR baby!! Its been calculated that the stunt was worth over 20 million pounds in media interest value, i hadn't heard of Coperni before this, had you?

The collections might have been showcasing Spring Summer 2023 but Tailoring was high up the list at The Row and Stella McCartney who showed her most sustainable collection ever using 87% conscious materials. Balmain confirmed the corset is well and truly back and cemented his own social media coverage with a Cameo appearance from Cher. She's 76, i will have what she's having.

When we talk about Paris fashion week Mud doesn’t usually factor, Cue the Balenciaga show, Creative Director Demna Gvasalia had a plan to jolt each of his guests out of their fashion week bubble, the runway or “mud grave” was a dark pit of earthy mud, it splashed up onto the clothes as models (led by Kanye) trudged through. The show notes described the set as “a metaphor for digging the truth”

So this winter when the rain is lashing down and you get splashed by a muddy puddle, remember you are the height of fashion.