Design for the Elite: Highlights of the Paris Couture Shows

Design for the Elite: Highlights of the Paris Couture Shows

After a week-long break after the Men's fashion shows, celebrities, editors and influencers returned to Paris to experience haute couture - an event where bespoke collections are presented and ultimately sold to the world's wealthiest customers.

A changed timetable for autumn 2025

The official timetable for autumn 2025 seemed lighter than usual. Absent were big-name labels such as Valentino, which only hosts a couture show once a year, and Dior, whose new creative director Jonathan Anderson was appointed just a month ago. Many houses are also waiting for the official runway debuts of their new designers in September, including Chanel, Gucci, Balenciaga, Loewe and Bottega Veneta. But there were also positive highlights.

Maison Margiela: A new chapter

Glenn Martens' first appearance as creative director of Maison Margiela was an impressive debut. True to Margiela's philosophy of upcycling and reinterpretation, reused materials were given a new life, including leather jackets given a weathered, decaying finish. A bodycon dress was sewn from prints from moldings and wallpaper and featured raw, fringed edges combined with a mask-like creation made from papier-mâché. Several silhouettes were encased in rigid, transparent plastic shells, sometimes with faces encrusted with gemstones.

Chanel: Anglomania at its finest

Chanel presented the final collection designed by its in-house studio, which has been responsible for the French luxury house's designs since the departure of creative director Virginie Viard in June 2024. Before the arrival of her successor Mathieu Blazy, who will present his first collection this fall, the collection was presented in a quieter part of the Grand Palais, where guests were invited through a side entrance.

Founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s original couture salon has been recreated here, complete with soft cream carpet, padded seating, mirrored walls and softly lit interiors. On each seat was a golden stalk of wheat and a name tag - including for Lorde, who sat next to Gracie Abrams, Naomi Campbell and Caroline of Monaco.

The collection was inspired by Chloe's lifelong passion for British culture, particularly the Scottish Highlands, where she first discovered tweed during her ten-year romance with Hugh Grosvenor, the second Duke of Westminster. Standout looks included a chartreuse tweed jacket teamed with a baby blue satin skirt; a black satin halter dress cinched with a utility belt and flap pockets; and a double-buttoned tweed coat worn over a tiered pleated skirt with lace panels.

"It was incredibly graceful and airy...like a fairytale...coupled with very structured shoulders," Caroline de Maigret, a model and longtime muse of the brand, told CNN after the show. “It was a powerful but graceful woman – and at times it was almost gothic.”

Balenciaga: A farewell in style

Designer Demna, who only goes by his first name, presented his last collection for Balenciaga before moving to Gucci. To mark the end of his ten-year tenure in the house, a host of familiar faces turned out in support, including Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Alexis Stone (who was modeled after Morticia Addams, complete with "Thing" on his shoulder), Patrick Schwarzenegger, Katy Perry and newlywed Lauren Sánchez Bezos - herself Demna's successor, Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Kim Kardashian appeared on the runway in a white silk dress inspired by the dress worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, paired with earrings that once belonged to Taylor. French actress Isabelle Huppert, a long-time ambassador for the brand, also appeared in the show.

Inspired by the "dress codes of the bourgeoisie," as Demna detailed in the show notes, the collection included polka dot coat dresses with exaggerated satin lapels, a sculptural black leather dress with an hourglass silhouette, and a houndstooth ensemble based on a 1967 design by founder Cristóbal Balenciaga based. Waxed floral patterns, a nod to Demna's grandmother's tablecloths as well as his early work at Vetements, appeared in the form of a fitted, floor-length skirt suit.

Giambattista Valli: An Italian in Paris

Italian fashion designer Giambattista Valli combined two milestones in one day: after being named Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at a medal ceremony at his headquarters, he presented his latest haute couture collection of voluminous sorbet dresses decorated with intricately embroidered flowers and "colors you want to smell and eat," as the designer told CNN during the presentation, which he chose instead of a runway show this season. France's Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, was also present.

Valli said of the award: “It is an extraordinary recognition.” He added: "It's wonderful to be honored by a country that is a part of my life - a country that has given me a voice and taught me so much."