Sacai Brings Wild Nostalgia to Paris Fashion Week 

A model presents a creation for the Sacai Menswear Ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
A model presents a creation for the Sacai Menswear Ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Sacai Brings Wild Nostalgia to Paris Fashion Week 

A model presents a creation for the Sacai Menswear Ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
A model presents a creation for the Sacai Menswear Ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on January 26, 2025. (AFP)

Sacai, Japan’s biggest fashion powerhouse, brought the wild side to Paris Fashion Week with Sunday's collection that reimagined childhood nostalgia through a lens of cutting-edge design.

Inspired by the 1963 children's picture book “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak, Chitose Abe delivered a playful, untamed vision that blended beastly textures with her trademark precision, resulting in a spectacle both bold and innovative.

The show leaned into functionality and whimsy, with shaggy faux-knit pelts adorning utility olive suits, oversized scarves, and knit blousons that channeled the spirit of untamed creatures. Faux fur trims added flair to skirts and reimagined outerwear, while nostalgic nods to Maurice Sendak’s iconic illustrations brought a touch of whimsy.

Collaborations added an extra edge, with workwear staples elevated into fashion statements, rugged boots offering a wild twist, and polished footwear tying together the refined evening looks.

Accessories like branded water bottles and utility bags infused the show with a modern, outdoorsy aesthetic, capturing the thrill of untamed creativity and leaving the audience enthralled.



Elie Saab’s Couture Escapism Finds a New Edge in Paris

A model wears a creation as part of the Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring- (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
A model wears a creation as part of the Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring- (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
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Elie Saab’s Couture Escapism Finds a New Edge in Paris

A model wears a creation as part of the Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring- (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
A model wears a creation as part of the Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring- (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The sounds of spring, with babbling brooks and birdsong, set a serene yet surreal tone Wednesday as Elie Saab unveiled his latest couture collection inside the soaring Palais de Tokyo in Paris. It was punctuated only by whoops and clicking camera shutters as Eva Longoria swept in.

While the setting evoked pastoral bliss, the collection was a study in high-drama couture, as Saab’s signature opulence met a new architectural precision.

This season, the Lebanese designer, a red carpet mainstay, tempered his signature cascades of embroidery with an almost armor-like structure. Sweeping architectural flourishes curved around shoulders and hips, recalling the grandeur of Art Deco but with a modern sheen. Geometric bands of sparkles reinforced the sculptural intent, carving out silhouettes that felt more commanding than Saab’s typical fluid romance, The AP reported.

Models emerged on three parallel runways framed by classical white arches, wearing gowns dripping with jewels and embroidered feathers that echoed foliage. The effect was cinematic, an invitation into a world of 1920s glamour — Gatsby decadence reimagined with Saab’s unerring eye for fantasy. But in a world of uncertainty, the excess took on a different weight, a reminder that fashion has long been a glittering escape from reality.

Saab’s touchstone aesthetic — luxurious embellishment, silhouette-flattering cuts and red carpet allure — was intact, but there was an added sense of structure, a couture boldness that gave the collection its edge. The designer has never strayed far from his core of femininity and grandeur, yet here was a whisper of something stronger: a woman draped in fantasy, but armored for the future.