Fashion weeks revealed spectacular shows with XXL logos

Countless dinners, parties, after parties and even after after parties were organised in the Parisian capital, testifying to a craze rarely seen. Journalists, buyers and especially celebrities came in force, creating buzz on social networks and even delays in the shows. Zendaya, Eva Longoria, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Cher, and many others, fired up the crowds of onlookers who gathered at the catwalk doors. More than ever, fashion met pop culture.

Once again this season, fashion was able to renew itself and bring its share of surprises. At Coperni, the young designers Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant pulled off a real and lucrative marketing tour de force. For the finale of the show, the brand worked with Fabricant Ltd, inventor of an aerosol fabric technique, to create the incredible "spray dress" made live on the body of top model Bella Hadid. The video immediately made the rounds on social media. According to Launchmetrics, a data analysis tool for measuring the impact of marketing strategies, Coperni's Instagram account jumped from 315,000 to 552,000 followers and the value of the measured media impact was 26.51 million euros.

Another performance, another buzz, at the Villepinte exhibition centre, the catwalk of the Balenciaga fashion show featured a giant 275 cubic metre mud pit signed by the artist Santiago Sierra. While for the last autumn-winter 2022-2023 show, artistic director Demna Gvasalia imagined a transparent carousel in which the models faced a snowstorm, this time the designer questioned the link between fashion and luxury and asked questions about the state of the world. At the Balmain show, pop superstar Cher appeared alongside designer Olivier Rousteing after delivering a video message to introduce the show. 

On Tuesday 4th October, Chanel presented its Spring Summer 2023 collection at the ephemeral Grand Palais. A definitely timeless collection inspired by three free spirited women with sophisticated looks Coco Chanel, Delphine Seyrig and Kristen Stewart, present on the front row. Director Olivier Assayas was full of praise for her looks in the press kit that accompanied the presentation. The brand's artistic director, Virginie Viard, designed the collection as a tribute to the actress, the most faithful incarnation of a free woman. According to her: "Of the people around me, she is the closest to Gabrielle Chanel, at least to the idea I have of her. She understands CHANEL, her clothes. Knots, boas, rhinestone boots, jersey worked like scales, white sequinned jackets, destructured prints, pastel tweeds, golden dresses in black velvet panne split on the side, flowing over the body, in lace or light chiffon: this was CHANEL's Spring-Summer 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection that expressed the spirit of the season, like a collage. This same collage was found on the 40-metre long wall at the entrance to the show, lined with images taken by the Dutch photographic duo Inez and Vinoodh, interspersed with photos of Gabrielle Chanel smoking cigarettes or Delphine Seyrig in Alain Resnais's film "Last Year at Marienbad" (1961). An ode to the Chanel look.

On the catwalk covered in black sand, girls of all morphologies walked the runway this season, like the model Jill Kortleve who wore shorts and a matching black top in cashmere, enhanced with daisy petals and the Chanel logo. Shorts will be the ultimate fashion piece next season: gingham curly shorts paired with a tweed jacket, fishnet stockings or glittering ankle socks. Ready-to-wear dresses carried in the pockets.

Another highly anticipated fashion show that afternoon, at the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Museum: the Louis Vuitton show. Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of the trunk-maker, invited his guests to the show with a majestic decor, composed of a monumental red flower whose golden stamens rose up against the blue sky of Paris on that day. A scenography conceptualized in trio with the contemporary artist Phillipe Parreno and the chief decorator James Chinlund. Like a futuristic fair, mirrors, spotlights and metal grids made up this magical carousel, punctuated by the electro music of "king of my castle" to open the show. We saw girls in baby doll dresses with donut collars striding out of the heart of the flower. Nicolas Guesquière wanted to play on the effects of proportion: enormous boots, large zips that cross the dresses, giant corset-like buckles, imposing zips. The padlock links that adorned Louis Vuitton bags were also found on a black apron dress. The trunk maker's signature was omnipresent in the show. Luggage tags, Keepals keys and small pockets were displayed in giant format.

A fashion show where the logos and emblems of the brands were displayed in XXL, to make a mark on the minds and social networks, now at the heart of the strategies.