Paris Fashion Week

Rows of VIP audience members watched in awe as Bella Hadid walked the runway in her spray-painted dress, while the other models eagerly awaited their turn to walk the runway. Crowds of fans desperately waited in the Paris rain, hoping to get a peek at a famous designer and their work. This is part of the scene at the Spring/Summer 2023 Paris Fashion Week.

“Paris sets the tone for fashion designers all around the world,” said graduate student Elizabeth Coyne.

Paris Fashion Week is one of the most well-known fashion events around the world. The 2023 Womenswear Spring-Summer line started Monday, Sept. 26, and ended Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Fashion Prof. David Bloom said, “Paris is the essence of fashion, as this city is where the whole concept of luxurious fashion began.”

Six new designers that were on this Paris Fashion Week’s schedule for spring 2023 were Anna October, Boutet Solanes, Florentina Leitner, Paula Canovas, Pressiat and Ruohan.

Sophomore Marena Capocci said, “There were so many new trends that emerged as well as the revival of Y2K fashion styles, which I happen to be a big fan of.”

Capocci thought that this particular Paris Fashion Week was truly where new designers began to emerge and that many of the shows served as a statement rather than just showing new designs.

The Federation enhances and coordinates Paris Fashion Week by connecting with other capitals like Milan, London and New York to ensure international coherence, said Women’s Wear Daily.

Prof. David Loranger, an assistant professor of fashion marketing at Sacred Heart University, said, “Paris is a fashion lab. I always tell my students that in terms of trends, Europe is one year ahead of the U.S., and then trends come here. So, we really do look to Europe for inspiration on how to dress.”

Since Paris Fashion Week ended, there have been hundreds of thousands of reviews and critics’ opinions on the many designers and collections that were put out.

Sophomore Hannah Ruderman said, “I liked the leather accents being thrown into designs with different fabrics. A trend that I disliked through fashion week was the preppy style, as I don’t feel that it accurately represents the new generation of fashion.”

Additionally, Loranger said, “I think that the shows lacked overall cohesiveness in terms of inspiration. The colors were a strange mix of very neutral tones mixed with a wide variety of pop colors that mostly didn’t stand out.”

The Federation assists member and guest brands with logistics. Depending on the brand’s profile, the Federation may also be able to provide financial support for exhibitions, said Fashion United.

“For the luxury brands, they get a feeling of what is going to be important in the coming months, and for them to promote in their stores or with select retailers. For those select retailers, this is a chance to see what will be important to them for the coming season,” said Bloom.

Along with new designers being thrown into the mix, there were numerous well-known brands that were seen at this Paris Fashion Week. These include Georgio Armani, Bottega Veneta, Coperni and more.

“Needless to say, going from Bella Hadid for Coperni, where the garment was sprayed on, to Kanye West YZY in oversized, highly structured black, gray and brown garments, we saw true extremes,” said Bloom.

This year’s Paris Fashion Week had more fans than ever seen before, with crowds surrounding the numerous buildings where the shows were taking place.

Capocci said, “I was fortunate enough to travel to Paris in the spring of 2022, where I was able to see collections launch for the first time in the world. Paris is the epicenter of fashion, therefore the shows are usually grander, the guest lists are usually more notable and the entire city focuses on fashion.”

Photo: @parisfashionweek – Instagram

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