Holy cow is Paris Fashion Week a long one! There were so many shows and I don’t know if I was a bit fashioned out or if this year was a bit of a letdown from some of the really big brands. McQueen had a new CF, whose initial collection isn’t being well received. Chloe also had a new director whose debut went far better. Louis Vuitton celebrated 10 years under the creative leadership of Nicolas Ghesquière. In short, there was a lot, but I was pretty disappointed by what I saw from the pillars of PFW. That said, there were still some exceptional shows and plenty of new-to-me designers to enjoy.
As ever, taste is subjective. Here are my favorite looks from AW 24/25 Women’s Ready-To-Wear Paris Fashion week. Let me know what you like!
Balmain
I LOVE Balmain, every season! Olivier Rousteing is a genius and probably my favorite designer, or at least in the top three. This season was so SO good. The collection is apparently inspired by his childhood home in the Frances Bordeaux region and many of the collection’s motifs (grapes, snails, trench coats) nod to the style and culinary influences of that region. It has all of Balmain’s usual angular and sophisticated tailoring, but it is not as sexy as previous collections, which may make it more wearable.
This trench-inspired set is stunning. The shoulders, the detailed wrap, the skirt over pants…. I really think this is one of my favorite AW24 RTW fashion month
Snail shell motifs played a major part in the collection and I love the geometric and architectural lines. This jumpsuit is interesting and very wearable.
I don’t know what it is about the trailing skirt/dress over pants look, but I’m obsessed with it. The trench-inspired gingham is really nice, and I love that neckline!
This velvet shell mini dress is gorgeous and I hope it gets worn on a red carpet or two. it’s sexy but modest, and interesting but wearable. Not easy to do all at once.
Sacai
I’m not sure I’m cool enough to wear Sacai, but I love this brand and regularly talk myself out of buying their coats, more because of the price than my cool girl impostor syndrome. What’s interesting about this particular collection is that every look is a single dress, which is extremely impressive given some of the layered looks. Sacai is also pushing the pants shoe and pulling it off far better than other brands that featured this style.
This was my favorite look from the collection. The layering is what really sold me on it. I do hope they make that crop jacket a stand-alone piece when this collection hits stores.
This shirt dress is so fun. I love the metallic sequins, and there is something of a cartoon-come-to-life feel about it.
This is the ultimate sweater dress! I love the oversized silhouette and the cable knit pattern is classic. This could easily be worn with boots or over pants
This is one of the most wearable and timeless pieces from the collection and I love it in this color!
Schiaparelli
A brand known for its quirky designs, the Creative Director, Daniel Roseberry, made a conscientious effort to show people that the fashion house was more than the red carpet and couture looks it’s famous for. This is an incredibly wearable collection that maintains the humor and avant-garde appeal of the brand
I love this look. The corset and the relaxed, oversized pants are a great contrast. And I love the scarf tied around belt loops to help keep the pants up. It’s a fresh take on belting.
How cool is this set! I’d wear it tomorrow given the opportunity. I love the oversized and cropped jacket. The look does a great job of playing with texture and proportion.
Similar to the first look I highlighted, this bodice has some great embellishments. I think it’s a face, but it might be a reference to abs or ribs… What do you think?
Victoria Beckham
Though I’ve always been a Victoria fan, I’m not always in love with her collections. This season I liked what I saw. Her clothing is usually very wearable, boarding on boring, but I thought that a lot of the design details she incorporated this season gave the still-wearable clothes a little something extra.
I really like the shape of the slit used on this skirt, it’s very fresh. This also looks super comfortable.
I don’t know how practical this sweater is, but I like the idea of it being half on. It’s kind of funny.
I love the silhouette of this jacket, and my first thought was “Someone in Seattle would actually wear that!”
Hui
From what I can tell, Hui is a relatively new brand. I can’t even figure out where to buy the clothes; the brand’s website doesn’t seem to be shoppable. That’s a bit sad because I loved this collection and would be very interested in some of the pieces. The joyful colors and the easy sophistication of the silhouettes really captured me. I’m excited to see what this brand brings in future seasons, and I hope I can figure out where to buy
This look is so fun! It’s a little sexy, a little quirky, and a lot of color! This makes me happy.
I can basically recreate this runway look from my existing closet, Makes sense that I like it.
This is a lot of look but so well done. Not everything we wear has to be neutral monochromatic.
Hodakova
There have been some phenomenal new-to-me designers I’ve stumbled across this year and Hodakova might be my favorite. It’s very difficult to be this creative and this wearable. There were so many pieces in this collection that could easily transition from a fashion show (where it’s more about the idea than the practical wear) to the streets. There was plenty of out-there design, but most of it was just creative use of the everyday things that douround us and imagining how they can be used differently. It was so fun to look at.
This was my favorite look from the collection. I love the leather pants turned into a mini dress. Apparently this is a signature style for Hodakova.
This skirt is fantastic. I love the weaving and the texture play it creates between the smoothness of the leather straps and the texture of the overall piece.
Junya Watanabe
This collection was all about sculpture, wearability be damned. Don’t get me wrong, the designs can be adjusted for for practical uses, but the ideas played with were not about the eas and comfort of the wearer. Still, I loved a lot of this collection and if nothing else, someone needs to get this guy to work on the next Sci-fi block buster because the looks would be awesome.
This coat is so interesting and weird and beautiful. It’s something I would expect to see on one of my favorite sci-fi or fantasy book characters or in a video game. I really love it!
For me, this was the most wearable look of the show and if I ever got to be a character in the Star Wars universe, this is what I would wear. It’s pretty epic.
Rick Owens
Well, we’re talking about the weird and wonderful, so we might as well talk about Rick Owens. I am highlighting two of the more “wearable” looks from the collection, though I’d like to say that the idea of what is and is not wearable is a very personal concept. The materials used in these styles are so comfortable looking. I really love that dress and could easily imagine wearing it on a cold winter day. That white coat is beautiful, and I even kind of like the inflatable boots.
Loewe
Jonathan Anderson created another collection of fun, beautiful, interesting, and boundary-pushing clothes. He’s not as out there as Mr. Owens or Mr. Watanabe , instead, Loewe offers a more commercially viable vision of avant-garde that has made it one of the most loved fashion houses of the last few years. I was particularly in love with the series of dresses that opened the show. They are elegant and sexy without being revealing and that’s refreshing after so much sheerness.
The texture and pattern of the second dress are a visual treat. It has a hand-drawn quality to it like someone sketched it with colored pencils. I love that it’s a large format print so we can get the details of each stroke of the plaid pattern. The color contrast is striking and I just want to touch that dress to see what it feels like.
Valentino
This season’s collection was done in all black, which may sound a little boring and, well dark at first but it wasn’t. There was an abundance of texture, different sheens, transparency, and flow. Not everything in the collection appealed to me, but then I’m not a big fan of the brand’s bow and flower motifs, but the pleating I saw was stunning and a nice way to add softness and movement to the collection.
Hermes
Hermes ready-to-wear is not usually the talk of the town, and that was true again this year, but it does make some really beautiful and timeless clothing…for those who can afford it. I saw several looks that were interesting and beautiful, and there was a little more edge and sexiness to the collection than one might expect. So maybe people are a little unfair to Hermes. Maybe it’s not as boring as we imagine it to be.
I genuinely love this look. That skirt is beautiful and timeless. The crop top is cool and a little more trend-forward than you’d expect from the anti-trend fashion house.
Mostly I am here for that bomber jacket, my latest outerwear obsession. I love the contrasting trim. The skirt is beautiful and the ribbed crop top is fun.
Dior
For the most part, I found the Dior collection to be palatable. There were a few denim looks I hated and I am not a fan of the “Miss Dior” graffiti blasted onto some of the clothes. What I did like were the coats. There were some beautiful trenches and wool coats this season. The two below were my favorites. I really like the contrast stitching on the first, and the sleeves are interesting. The second coat is just classic and those colors are so good. I love a colorful plaid!
Givenchy
Since I’ve started paying more attention to fashion, Givenchy has had two creative directors. One I liked, one I was meh about. This season the studio was without a creative director. I thought the collection was nice but not much in it drew my attention. The exception is this all-black, layered look.
This multi-layer styling has been used on several runways this season and I won’t be surprised if it becomes more popular, especially if monochrome dressing continues to be so popular. It’s a nice way to create a little more visual interest.
It will be exciting to see who gets put in charge of this heritage fashion house next. I’d love to see more of this in future shows.
OMG, that wraps up the fall-winter 2024/25 women’s ready-to-wear fashion month. I’ve never recapped the shows like this but I really enjoyed seeing what’s coming and getting a ton of inspiration for what I can wear right now and next fall. If you haven’t already, check out the New York London, and Milan blogs. Each city had something a little different to offer.
Let me know if you enjoyed these recaps and what you loved about fashion month this season.
Rainy Day Rags 