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Couture Week Comes to Paris amid Riot Fears

From Schiaparelli's show in July 2022. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/File
From Schiaparelli's show in July 2022. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/File
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Couture Week Comes to Paris amid Riot Fears

From Schiaparelli's show in July 2022. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/File
From Schiaparelli's show in July 2022. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/File

The fashion world is on edge as haute couture week kicks off on Monday in Paris, which has seen nights of violent riots over the police killing of a teenager.
French label Celine canceled its menswear show -- scheduled outside the official calendar -- on Sunday due to the riots, with designer Hedi Slimane saying it was "inconsiderate" to hold a fashion show when Paris was "bereaved and bruised".
Hundreds have been arrested across the country as mostly young protesters have torched cars and attacked infrastructure following the death of 17-year-old Nahel M., who was shot dead when he tried to flee a traffic stop on Tuesday.
Violence appeared to be ebbing somewhat in and around the French capital over the weekend, and the haute couture shows -- celebrating the most expensive, tailor-made end of fashion -- were due to go ahead as planned, the French fashion federation told AFP on Sunday.
First up is Schiaparelli, with fashionistas wondering if it can beat the social media meltdown caused by last season's fake animal heads.
The heads, sported by the likes of Kylie Jenner, were another publicity coup for Schiaparelli artistic director Daniel Roseberry, who has overseen a revamp of the brand and attracted the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyonce as clients.
Animal activists seemed unsure what to think.
The US branch of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) called the heads "fabulously innovative", while PETA's French branch said a thought should be spared for the silkworms and sheep "who have really suffered".
Couture week will see first-time appearances by the United States' Thom Browne and France's Charles de Vilmorin alongside regulars like Christian Dior.
De Vilmorin, just 26, will present for his own brand after a short-lived tenure as artistic director of Rochas.
"I'm super happy to have lived through all this and to do my first show," he told AFP in his apartment-workshop last week while finalizing the collection.
Fellow couturier Stephane Rolland is presenting his latest collection, dedicated to legendary singer Maria Callas, at the Opera Garnier.
It will be filmed by veteran French director Claude Lelouch for his next movie.
Rolland said it was vital to merge fashion and other art forms.
"It's very important in our profession. I find that from time to time it lacks a bit of refinement. Money is not everything," he told AFP.

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Fashion

Goosebumps and Stars as Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off

Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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Goosebumps and Stars as Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off

Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Hollywood stars braved the rain to open Paris Fashion Week at L'Oreal's giant outdoor show Monday as rumors swirl of musical chairs at the top of fabled French brands.
The cosmetics giant persuaded Jane Fonda -- in snazzy silver sneakers -- Kendall Jenner, Eva Longoria and several of its other brand ambassadors to walk in a spectacular public show in front of the gilded glory of the Opera Garnier.
With invites to the big luxury shows strictly limited to the glitterati and fashion insiders, L'Oreal said it wanted to democratize the glamor of fashion week.
Introduced by singer Celine Dion, the "Walk Your Worth" show also featured Andie MacDowell, Indian star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, models with prosthetic limbs and Brazilian supermodel Luma Grothe proudly showing off her bump.
"The idea is to let the public see for themselves the beautiful clothes, settings and people that they would never normally have access to," L'Oreal's Paris director general Delphine Viguier told AFP.
Fashion's young guard had earlier endured a stormy start to the nine-day extravaganza -- Rising French star Victor Weinsanto staged his spring-summer show on the wet and windy roof of the Pompidou Centre museum, his fishnet and mesh ensembles created around Croatian drag queen Le Filip being tested by the elements.
The Paris shows started as falling profits at the two luxury giants LVMH and Kering have sent a shudder through the industry, fueling talk of a "Game of Thrones" among top designers.
Celine's Hedi Slimane and Simon Porte Jacquemus -- the young French designer who made tiny handbags and tiny everything else a thing -- are being talked of to fill Karl Lagerfeld's empty chair at Chanel after Virginie Viard, who took the reins after the death of "the Kaiser" in 2019, bowed out in June.
Hotly anticipated
Tongues are also likely to wag at the spring-summer shows over where John Galliano might go, with his contract at Maison Margiela nearing its end.
The first shows from the big-hitter French houses will come Tuesday with Dior and Saint Laurent, with a packed calendar confirming Paris's crushing dominance over rivals Milan, New York and London.
And there is no let-up at the end: Chanel opens the final day on October 1 by returning to the vast Grand Palais, the scene of some of Lagerfeld's most jaw-dropping shows, after an absence of four years.
The house is shelling out 30 million euros ($33 million) to stage its shows at the iconic Belle Epoque edifice, which reopened after a major facelift to host fencing and taekwondo at the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games.
With Viard -- long Lagerfeld's right-hand woman -- gone, observers expect a collection drawn from Chanel classics.
In contrast, there could well be fireworks from Alessandro Michele, the mercurial Italian designer who transformed Gucci, who may be keen to make his mark with his debut show for Valentino.
Equally anticipated is French duo Coperni, who are staging their show at Disneyland Paris on the final night, with an after party in the theme park that promises to go on into the wee hours.
The brand's founders, Arnaud Vaillant and Sebastien Meyer, pulled off a coup with their outfit for Belgian singer Angele for the Olympics closing ceremony, and are clearly in a mood to celebrate.
Another hot duo, the Olsen twins, the Los Angeles child actors turned designers, have kept their place for their luxury line The Row in fashion week proper thanks to a cash injection from the owners of Chanel and L'Oreal.
Paris will, however, be without Givenchy this time, with its new British designer Sarah Burton, a stalwart at Alexander McQueen for a quarter of a century, just made creative director.