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Elie Saab Unveils Luxurious Safari Chic Spring Collection in Paris

Models wear creations as part of the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP)
Models wear creations as part of the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP)
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Elie Saab Unveils Luxurious Safari Chic Spring Collection in Paris

Models wear creations as part of the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP)
Models wear creations as part of the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP)

Lebanese designer Elie Saab unveiled his spring collection on Saturday at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo, elevating the concept of safari chic to luxurious while keeping the camp firmly in check.

Here are some highlights of Saturday's ready-to-wear collections:

Elie Saab takes us on a sultry journey

Saab’s collection blew away any expectations of colonial nostalgia, just like the harmattan gusts he drew inspiration from. Instead, what we got was a mesmerizing journey through the African savannah that felt fresh, vibrant, and completely devoid of tired clichés. This was no ordinary safari chic—Saab took the concept and injected it with his signature luxury, letting it roar in all the right ways while keeping the camp firmly in check.

Right from the start, Saab showed he wasn’t afraid to play with the safari staples—but with a twist. Safari suits, reimagined as roomy linen separates and sleek crepe jumpsuits, traded their usual khaki for the blazing red of fireball lilies, moody elephant gray, and the ochre dust of West Africa. It was a palette that brought the raw, natural beauty of the continent to life without falling into the predictable tropes. These looks weren’t the romanticized garb of the intrepid explorer; they were effortlessly chic, perfectly fitted for today’s cosmopolitan adventurer.

Then came the raffia—oh, the raffia! Saab worked magic with this plant fiber, weaving it into low-slung skirts and minidresses with faint bubble hems that felt light and breezy, yet utterly luxurious. It also made an appearance as fern embroideries on floor-grazing tulle gowns, adding texture and depth that felt delightfully organic. It was these delicate, thoughtful touches that took this collection beyond just a thematic exercise and elevated it to something exquisite.

Hermes’ gentle geometry

Vanhee-Cybulski’s Hermes collection reimagined spring with a palette of warm golden beiges and earthy autumnal hues, a bold choice that immediately set the collection apart. Gentle geometry shaped the garments — myriad squares and architectural forms that fused seamlessly with Hermes signature minimalism. This interplay was reinforced by the striking wooden backdrop, enhancing the atmosphere of sophisticated restraint.

Vanhee-Cybulski leaned into a refined sensuality with sheer mesh trousers that transformed at a flick of a zip and featherweight leather jackets that seemed almost ethereal. These pieces paired athletic ease with luxury, demonstrating her skill in blending delicacy with bold, structured shapes. Utilitarian details, like buckled belts and boxy, pocket-laden shirts, underscored the collection’s grounding in practicality, even amid its more daring expressions of sensuality.

Throughout, Vanhee-Cybulski captured the lightness that spring calls for—luxurious reinterpretations of Hermes’ iconic silk scarves, transformed into breezy shirtdresses and rompers, embodied a carefree spirit ready for sunlit escapes. Warm neutrals dominated, echoing a feeling of being sun-soaked, while her activewear-inspired pieces conveyed a relaxed, summer-ready attitude without compromising on elegance.

The footwear, always a standout for Hermes, carried this ethos further. Sleek riding boots offered a solid foundation to the collection’s grounded luxury, while clog sandals brought a playful, modern twist.

Westwood's controlled chaos

Vivienne Westwood’s spirit lived on in Paris this season, as Andreas Kronthaler brought a masterful interplay of rebellion, history, and glam rock energy to the runway. The spring collection opened with sparkling pants paired with a silky blue bodice, a nod to the late designer’s love of bold, unexpected contrasts—a brilliant start that practically screamed rock ‘n’ roll chic. Kronthaler clearly hasn’t lost his taste for the dramatic, diving headfirst into the kind of fierce, confrontational style that made Westwood an icon.

A giant silver chain, dangling almost absurdly to the model’s knees, set the tone: a clear statement of raw, unapologetic power, in course with the punk ethos of the 80s that still courses through this house’s veins. And there, of course, were the signature Westwood suits and Grecian-style draped dresses—classic shapes that carried a dynamic energy and timeless rebellion, reminiscent of the archival references that have defined Kronthaler’s tenure. These silhouettes bore the same sense of timeless radicalism seen in Kronthaler’s reinterpretations of Westwood’s personal wardrobe last fall, where each garment seemed to transcend fleeting trends.

Clashing checks—a staple of the Westwood lexicon—made their mark, giving the collection an urban, gritty edge that felt distinctly true to the house’s rebellious spirit.

Whimsy had its moment in the shape of a giant tulle headpiece, soaring high and embodying an ’80s bridal punk vision—a dizzying height of contradiction that no one but Westwood’s house could make look so irreverently sophisticated. This playful chaos echoed past seasons, where Kronthaler has embraced an eclectic mishmash of themes—from historical doublets to modern macramé cloaks. This time, however, there was a sense of restraint. It was a more controlled affair, one that saw Kronthaler tightening his narrative, perhaps reflecting a shift toward emotional homage rather than spectacle alone.

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Fashion

Fashion Suppliers Want Brands to Help With EU Green Regulations

An employee arranges bobbins at a textile plant in Haian county, Jiangsu province, China. REUTERS
An employee arranges bobbins at a textile plant in Haian county, Jiangsu province, China. REUTERS
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Fashion Suppliers Want Brands to Help With EU Green Regulations

An employee arranges bobbins at a textile plant in Haian county, Jiangsu province, China. REUTERS
An employee arranges bobbins at a textile plant in Haian county, Jiangsu province, China. REUTERS

As the global fashion industry braces for new green supply-chain regulations, clothing makers in low-income countries like Bangladesh expect major international brands to share the burden. The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), adopted in July, requires corporations to make their global value chains more sustainable.
The new rules on workers’ rights and emissions could transform the way clothing is made and sold, most significantly in the garment factories and textile mills across Asia that account for much of the sector’s pollution. Bangladesh, the world’s second-biggest clothing exporter after China, in particular needs assistance from major brands as it undergoes a political transition following mass protests sparked by a jobs crisis that ousted the previous government.
"While in Bangladesh we have prepared our mindset and ecosystem for the change, we will need support from our global buyers, as well as our government, to reach the green transition goals," said Abdullah Hil Rakib, managing director at Team Group, a clothing supplier in Bangladesh that employs about 23,000 people. The CSDDD seeks to bring corporate practices in line with the Paris Agreement on climate goals. Major European brands must ensure their suppliers are conducting due diligence to protect workers and communities from the adverse effects of their operations or pay compensation for damages.
For the fashion industry, the onus will mostly fall on factories in places like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia to find and fill the gaps in safeguarding labor, human rights and the environment, experts said.
International brands must collaborate with these suppliers to adhere to the new rules, according to a study by clothing makers in Asia that was supported by the Transformers Foundation, which represents the denim industry, and GIZ FABRIC, a project from German development agency GIZ to support sustainable textile production in the region.
GROWING COMPLEXITY
The new regulations may provide a chance for suppliers to push for ethical commercial practices and more favorable contracts from international brands, representatives from companies behind the study told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a joint interview.
But manufacturers are still coming to grips with what measures they must take and how they will finance their portion of the estimated $1 trillion investment required for the fashion industry to transition to net-zero emissions in the coming decades.
Rakib estimated that suppliers will have to make additional investments of 20% to 30% to turn their factories green.
Industry experts warned that the CSDDD will require a raft of legal changes in countries where the products are manufactured.
National legislatures will have to pass laws that line up with the EU directive. Brands must devise their approach to implementing such laws, and courts will need precedents in order to enforce them, said Matin Saad Abdullah, a professor of computer science and engineering at BRAC University in Dhaka who maps garment factories’ compliance on labor rights and environmental standards.
"The path forward is long and complex," he said.
Brands and suppliers have widely differing capacities and plans for meeting what the EU calls “just transition,” said Zahangir Alam, a fashion industry consultant who has worked for three decades with top global brands on labor issues and sustainability.
For example, Sweden’s H&M Group aims to cut carbon emissions by 56% by 2030, while US retailer Walmart’s Project Gigaton seeks to avoid 1 billion metric tons of emissions in its global value chain by 2030.
Smaller producers in particular will struggle to determine which actions they need to take to meet a brand’s particular benchmarks, Alam said.
‘SHARED RESPONSIBILITY’
Industry associations and government agencies can encourage a common approach by companies in the transition to cleaner and fairer practices, said Rakib.
Bangladesh's garment makers' association, called BGMEA, has set up the Responsible Business Hub to provide information to suppliers about the changing regulatory landscape. The group is also creating a platform to facilitate data collection and sharing. But suppliers said they need brands at their side too and that meeting the CSDDD’s requirements is a “shared responsibility,” as the directive mandates.
Brands are often accused of passing the buck to their suppliers when it comes to ensuring a living wage or investing in decarbonization.
To achieve net-zero emission by 2050, the fashion industry will have to invest more than $600 billion to implement solutions that already exist and about $400 billion to develop innovations, according to a report by the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), a non-profit promoting sustainable investments.
Aii has formed the Fashion Climate Fund, which pools resources from brands and philanthropies, and is working with more than 1,000 suppliers to help them achieve energy and water efficiency, said Lewis Perkins, President of Aii.
Aii acts as a "clearing house" to identify programs and technology for decarbonization and encourage local suppliers to adopt them.
"We have identified 1,500 suppliers with high energy usage and aim to support locally grown decarbonization solutions, when they meet our criteria, prioritized by the suppliers themselves, with buy-in from multiple stakeholders, so that all actors are on the same page," Perkins said.
WORKERS’ VOICES
The EU directive is also aimed at improving labor conditions, requiring businesses to verify workplace safety and allow workers and unions to file complaints about human rights violations with authorities.
Union leaders said they are waiting to see how the changes are put in place to protect workers.
"When the laws kick in, we need clear and simple channels to seek remedy when anything goes wrong - and the Global North should have a roadmap for supporting the upskilling of workers," said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS).
"Moreover, for all the lawmakers' focus on transitioning to net zero, there should be a comparable commitment on helping workers deal with climate impacts like flooding and heat," said Akter.
Garment-producing countries like Bangladesh could lose $66 billion in export revenues by 2030 due to flooding and heat waves, said reports by the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University in the United States and investment manager Schroders published last year.
Team Group’s Rakib said Bangladesh’s experience making changes to improve conditions for workers and the environment make it well-positioned to tackle the new rules – and ensure it retains its position as a leading producer of the world’s clothing.
"With the strides that suppliers in Bangladesh have made in ensuring workers are safe from fire and electrical risks - and more than 200 green factories making extra savings on energy and water - we will remain a key sourcing choice," Rakib said.