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The final days of Paris Fashion Week are packed with some heavy hitters, but the biggest news may come after Saint Laurent closes out the runway schedule Tuesday. Some highlights:
Sunday
Lacoste creative director Pelagia Kolotouros shows her third collection. After a hiatus, the brand is using runway shows to parlay its nearly century-old association with tennis into a bigger, and hopefully higher-margin ready-to-wear business.
BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks described Alessandro Michele’s first Valentino show in September as “delivered with such luxurious lightness, effortlessness, exquisite technique and flat-out beauty that it still had the potency of something much missed.” Angelo Flaccavento was less-enamoured with Michele’s couture in January, questioning whether “dramatic and abrasive” costumes that worked so well inside the venue would retain their magic when worn as actual clothes. His Autumn/Winter 2025 collection debuts Sunday afternoon.
Monday
Loewe opens the day with a presentation rather than a runway, as designer Jonathan Anderson reportedly prepares for his move to Dior.
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Runway beauty has receded from the spotlight in recent years, but Pat McGrath is one of the few practitioners who can still draw attention to models’ faces along with the clothes. Louis Vuitton might be one of those shows; the brand just announced it’s launching a beauty line with McGrath at the creative helm.
Tuesday
Chanel’s shows its fifth studio-designed collection, with a couple more in the works as the fashion world waits for Matthieu Blazy’s debut in October.
Miu Miu has a new CEO, and design director Dario Vitale recently left (Miuccia Prada remains creative director). Miu Miu has used runway shows to expand its appeal beyond its young customer base, following up viral micro-skirts with cashmere cardigans, for example. The strategy doubled sales last year. And while the recent executive shuffle is intended to position the brand for a soft landing, we’re clearly not there yet.
After
The quiet days after fashion week are an ideal time for brands to release some of the big news they’ve been sitting on. There’s the aforementioned Anderson, but also new designers set to be nominated at Gucci, Fendi and Jil Sander. And though Prada is being coy about potentially acquiring Versace, it appears to be closing in on a deal.
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