Fashion: Recent Episodes
FRANCE 24 English
All the best of the Parisian catwalks and a look behind the scenes at the big names in Haute couture. Friday at 12.45 pm Paris time.
A celebration of the body, dance, art and sport! At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri installs Italian archer-artist Sagg Napoli in a long glass cage. Her collection is an ode to the Amazons, a reference to the designs created by Christian Dior in the 1950s. For his “Impro” collection, designer Alain Paul unleashes the bodies of male and female dancers on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet. Last but not least, Magda Butrym awakens and reveals Polish fashion in an understated presentation. FRANCE 24 takes you to Paris Fashion Week.
At the Rodin Museum Dior presents its latest collection against a décor comprised of mosaics by the New York-based feminist artist Faith Ringgold. At the Salle Pleyel, Stéphane Rolland celebrates the poetry of Jacques Prévert and Brassaï, while at the Palais de Tokyo Japanese couturier Yuima Nakazato works with Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Couture may officially be considered an applied art, rather than fine art, but it nonetheless has the power to elicit intense emotions.
Can fashion transform reality, or is it more a question of how the real world influences fashion? Dior's response lies in a deeply feminist collection, inspired by the Swinging Sixties, when Marc Bohan was at the helm of the label. South African brand Maxhosa resurrects ancient Xhosa motifs. Mossi, through his clothes and fashion school in the eastern Paris suburbs, hopes to give disenfranchised young people a dream to aim for. All are searching for the holy grail: fashion that's both beautiful and meaningful.
At the campus of the French Fashion Institute, 27 design students from 13 different countries are gearing up to present their year's work before a highly influential audience. The stakes are high: these students are poised to compete with fellow graduates from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school in London. But there's no denying that France still plays an outsized role on the international stage when it comes to fashion, as evidenced by the likes of designers Weinsanto, Pressiat and Alain Paul. FRANCE 24 went to check out their ready-to-wear shows.
Stella McCartney, Marine Serre and Lilia Litkovska are three designers united in their belief that fashion, a notoriously polluting industry that often encourages excessive consumption, can itself be part of the solution. Through their latest ready-to-wear collections for next autumn and winter they showcase more sustainable modes of production, and advocate for fashion that has both style and heart. FRANCE 24 went to check out their Paris shows.
What exactly goes on in designers’ heads? Wim Wenders claims that Yohji Yamamoto has the power to heal people without the need for a therapist’s chair. Meanwhile Jeanne Friot delves into her own lesbian love story. Stéphane Rolland invites students from two Paris fashions schools on stage, as his collection questions the relationship between East and West. And Julien Fournié embraces the Hitchcock heroine aesthetic to bring down the patriarchy.
Haute couture represents the apotheosis of fashion. Thousands of hours of work can go into a single item, destined to be worn just once. Couture offers a window into a multi-billion-euro industry. But it's also a pillar of French soft power, which was perfectly expressed this year at Dior, Imane Ayissi, Sara Chraïbi and Simone Rocha for Jean Paul Gaultier. FRANCE 24 takes you to check out the runway shows.
Stella McCartney, Laurence Airline, Vaillant Studio and Litkovska are four fashion labels founded and run by women. Inspired by a desire to always strive for better, these designers propose solutions to the biggest challenges facing fashion today – everything from overconsumption and textile pollution to convoluted supply chains. All four women know that, at its best, fashion can also be used as a weapon for good. FRANCE 24 went to meet them and check out their latest ready-to-wear shows in Paris.
Japanese stylists have been making their mark on the Paris fashion scene since the 1980s, and continue to prove their mastery of the art of merging form and movement. Yohji Yamamoto, Yusuke Takahashi for CFCL, Maiko Kurogouchi and Satoshi Kondo for Issey Miyake – all these designers have a knack for taking the pulse of the planet, and, in turn, proposing new ways of dressing. We went to meet them in this edition of Fashion.
Togo's International Fashion Festival (FIMO), which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary in Lomé, has organised a catwalk show in Paris to promote African fashion. Jacques Logoh, FIMO's founder, is an outspoken advocate of fashion that's designed and produced on the African continent. A recent UNESCO report says that Africa is on course to be the world's next major fashion hub – on the condition that the industry receives sufficient state support. But that's by no means guaranteed. We take a closer look.
In this edition we meet three up-and-coming fashion designers. Victor Weinsanto studied fashion in Paris before going on to work with Jean-Paul Gaultier. He later went on to found his own exuberant label, this year inviting his drag queen friends to model his latest collection. Meanwhile, Kevin Germanier wants to break with the bad habits of the past: he loves upcycling and breathing new life into old fabric. For Alain Paul, meanwhile, fashion is the work of marrying choreography and clothing to the human body.
"Ressusciter la rose" (Revive the rose) is an original musical tribute, a marriage of fashion, music and design, to celebrate the centenary of the Villa Noailles. This collection of Cubist-inspired buildings in the south of France was designed in the 1930s by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. It was commissioned by an iconic couple: Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. The villa quickly became the go-to meeting place for the French avant-garde. So what exactly is the couple's legacy? We take a closer look in this edition of Fashion.
"Woman is an active subject of the historical process and cannot be confined to being the object of desire of patriarchy." That was the strident slogan written in letters on the wall of Dior's recent show, where creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri leant into the historically fraught image of the witch. The feminist fight was also at the heart of the offering from Valériane Venance's young label Indépendantes de Cœur, where a cage motif was central. The model within is entirely naked, but simultaneously protected.
For their summer 2024 menswear collections, not one but two French designers have sought inspiration in literature. Louis-Gabriel Nouchi turned to Christopher Isherwood's "A Single Man", while Jeanne Friot dived into "The Little Mermaid", both books that explore the complexities and the often-repressed desires of the queer community. We also meet Mark Bryan, a robotics engineer who loves subverting the sartorial status quo by wearing skirts and heels in his daily life.
For his next film, "Finalement" ("Finally"), French director Claude Lelouch places his characters at the heart of a fashion show. The collection in question belongs to Parisian couturier Stéphane Rolland, who reveals his haute couture 2023/2024 winter offering on the grand staircase of the Paris Opera. The event pays homage to opera icon Maria Callas, and recreates the star’s “grande nuit de l’Opéra” that took place there in 1958. Lelouch’s actors, who perform in the midst of a live, real-world fashion show, only have one chance to get it right.
July 2023 saw the third edition of a fashion competition in Paris called Africa Fashion Up. It aims to give a platform to young, up-and-coming African talent. Five designers from across the continent presented their collections at the Musée du Quai Branly, as they celebrated local craftsmanship with a global appeal. The winner, Aristide Loua, is an Ivorian who lived in France before returning to his home country, where he spent two years reacclimatising before embracing fashion. FRANCE 24 went to meet him and the other designers.
Haute Couture is part of French soft power: creating thousands of jobs and huge profits, a world away from a dramatic news cycle. This season's Paris Fashion Week was no exception. Dior's show saw Maria Grazia Chiuri reinventing the pleats of ancient Greece, while Iris van Herpen experimented with new shapes to allow movement. In their new collections, the two fashion houses are creating an ode to lightness – perhaps an antidote to our turbulent times?
It was the fashion event of the season, if not the decade! Fashion journalists, buyers, celebrities and influencers from around the world descended on the French capital to see Paris's oldest bridge, le Pont Neuf, decked out in resplendent gold. The occasion was Pharrell Williams's first ever collection as head of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Another big celebrity draw elsewhere in Paris was the indefatigable Yohji Yamamoto, who's just a few months away from his 80th birthday. FRANCE 24 got a glimpse of the action.
This year's Tunis Fashion Week took place at the Museum of Carthage, a recent recipient of some hefty funding from the European Union. The setting for the 14th edition was chosen by event founder Anis Montacer. He's launching his own label, Outa, with a collection made from recycled plastic waste. Also worthy of mention are Portuguese designer Joana Maltez, young Tunisian designer Haroun Ghanmi and Mouna Ben Braham, who reinvents traditional Tunisian wedding attire. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.
An enormous part of a museum's success depends on its curators. At Paris's Palais Galliera fashion museum, curator Alexandre Samson has declared 1997 a year unparalleled in its influence on global fashion. It was the year Jean-Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for Luc Besson’s film "The Fifth Element", Comme des Garçons and Martin Margiela revealed iconic collections and Tom Ford embraced the porno-chic aesthetic at Gucci. We check out a celebration of 1990s audacity at the exhibition "1997 Fashion Big Bang".
The first edition of the IWP in 1954 crowned none other than Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. Fast forward to today, when designers from around the world compete for a prize fund of 200,000 Australian dollars and a prestigious mentoring program. The collections must be made from 100% wool and respect the principles of sustainable fashion. The Grand Prix this year was awarded to Nigerian designer Adeju Thomson, who was inspired by the idea of "decolonising design".
Modest fashion is a way of dressing that respects specific clothing requirements for reasons of faith and also personal preference. The market for modest fashion is huge – and it's only getting bigger, with both designers and influencers keen to get in on the action. FRANCE 24 went to check out the second edition of Paris Modest Fashion Week.
What are the hidden facets of today's fashion designers? Research and exploration, which spark creativity. Young Ukrainian designer Ivan Frolov digs deep into our propensity to seek the source of our desires. Dutch designer Iris van Herpen immerses herself in the depths of the ocean. Back on dry land, Japan's Yuima Nakazato explores the garbage mountain of Nairobi. Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf take an intellectual approach to research with an ironic take on glamour, while France's Alexandre Vauthier explores the practical needs of his clients.
In Lomé, the capital of Togo, Jacques Logoh has good reason to be cheerful. The young designer and founder of the Togo International Fashion Festival has made it his mission to ensure the event embodies the values of diversity. Alex and Kim are androgynous models. They're walking for – among others – Fauvette Nacto, in a show that's a celebration of marriage in all its forms. It’s a theme that a number of designers have been inspired by this year. FRANCE 24 went to take a closer look.
All fashion designers have one thing in common: whatever the challenges, however much the odds appear stacked against them, they find a way to keep working. Yohji Yamamoto, having recently lost two close family members, uses his anger as the force behind a period of contemplation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian designers Svitlana Bevza and Lilia Litkovska ensure they find ways to express themselves through clothes, despite living in a country at war.
Before he arrived on the scene, fashion photography was stuck in a rut, endlessly repeating the stale poses of the 1950s. But US photographer Arthur Elgort turned all that on its head in the early 1970s when he started his long collaboration with Vogue. Today, at 82 years old and despite suffering a stroke, he's still working. We caught up with him in central Paris, where the Azzedine Alaia Foundation is dedicating an exhibition to him. The two fashion giants worked closely over the course of decades and were close friends.
France's Victor Weinsanto, Vincent Pressiat and Alice Vaillant encapsulate a new generation of boundless energy and talent; of fashion designers determined to disrupt the sartorial status quo. Not only do they embrace the latest couture innovations, they're also firmly plugged into the zeitgeist – a desire to create fashion that's more responsible, more daring and more free. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.
The latest ready-to-wear collections in Paris are proof that fashion is art in its own right: mere adornment making way for extraordinary craftsmanship, show after show. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri celebrates the 1950s, specifically the feminism encapsulated by Catherine Dior, Edith Piaf and Juliette Greco. Stella McCartney, meanwhile, offers an equestrian treat, employing everything from mushroom fibres to recycled food waste in her quest for fashion that’s not only beautiful, but responsible. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks.
For the tenth edition of FIMO, Togo's international fashion festival, founder Jacques Logoh wanted to raise awareness of environmental issues by paying homage to a group of women on the frontlines of that fight: the street sweepers of the capital Lomé. Designers, meanwhile, were keen to show off their recycling prowess. Label Riche ou Rien used metal sponges, while Victoria Grace reinvented Indian saris and Desmo Design highlighted the threat posed by toxic plastics. To top it all off, a series of eye-opening masterclasses rounded out the festival. FRANCE 24 went to check it out.
Should lingerie be considered fashion? In the world of haute couture, at least in the hands of designer Julien Fournié, the answer is a resounding "yes", as underwear becomes the main event. Lingerie is no longer about seduction alone: looking sexy is key, but so too is comfort and confidence. And increasingly, the same goes for menswear – lace boxer shorts, anyone?
The House of Dior turns over vast sums of money for luxury giant LVMH, but high-end fashion can never be just about the cash: it's also about world-leading artistry. In her spring-summer 2023 collection, Dior's artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri pays homage to the elegant modernity of the Black Parisian jazz stars of the 1920s, in particular Joséphine Baker. Meanwhile, fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard celebrates the humble wardrobe of his late mother by transforming it with haute couture techniques.
These days, almost all fashion collections presented in Paris have a name, such as "Enfants Terribles" for the Japanese label Kidill, which resurrects 1990s skate culture. For Yohji Yamamoto, it's "Don't Do That". At Walter Van Beirendonck, the collection is called "We Need New Eyes To See The Future", while Rick Owens has chosen "Luxor Men's" and Jeanne Friot "Red Warriors". These collections are by turns politically engaged, unisex and avant-garde, but all will make you want to revamp your wardrobe. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.
It’s time to vogue! At the "Habibi, revolutions of love" exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris, a huge party celebrating LGBT culture across the Arab world brought joy to the French capital. What better way to pay homage to tolerance and love in the Arab world than an evening celebrating the revolutionary vogue dance (the origins of voguing can be found in the 1980s by the Black and Latinx queer communities) from NYC? Are we really free to love wherever we are in the world? Too often, the answer is "no". It is frequently even more difficult when you live in an Arab or Muslim country. FRANCE 24 went along to celebrate, but we also found out that the issue is as political as ever.
For the past 20 years, thanks to an initiative launched by the late Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel has celebrated the unique expertise of its master feather workers, embroiders and milliners with an annual métiers d’art collection. This year, the show is taking place in Dakar, Senegal – the first luxury event of its kind to take place in sub-Saharan Africa. Rapper Abd Al Malik, writer Alain Mabanckou, model and producer Caroline de Maigret, actress Lyna Khoudri, musician Nix, director Moly Kane, actress Whitney Peak and musician Pharrell Williams talk us through their impressions of the show.
2022 was a difficult year in many ways, but that didn't stop the biggest luxury labels securing impressive profits or coming up with exciting new collaborations, such as one between Jean Paul Gaultier and Olivier Rousteing. This past year was marked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a lack of raw materials and increased awareness of just how polluting the fashion industry is. Throw in some big questions about the intersection between fashion and virtual reality, and we have to wonder: what exactly will fashion look like in 2023?
Can ready-to-wear collections help us answer key questions about who we are and how we should live? On exiting the latest Rick Owens show, the answer from Montreal-based fashion duo Matières Fécales was a resolute "yes". Fashion can imbue life with meaning, even if it’s merely an aesthetic project, as with American label Enfants Riches Déprimés. Meanwhile, after running his label Xuly Bët for 30 years, Lamine Kouyaté laments that more has not changed in the world since he set out to design.
If there was one word to describe the latest round of ready-to-wear offerings for summer 2023, it would be freedom, a desire to liberate bodies – and minds – from all forms of restraint. Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto rejects any fashion that treats women like dolls rather than people, while his compatriot Hidenori Kumakiri reimagines military uniforms and French designer Mossi Traoré finds inspiration in binmen’s uniforms. Meanwhile, French stalwart Isabelle Marant does what she’s always done, championing fashion that transcends space and time.
A seven-hour drive southwest of the Tunisian capital lies Chott el-Djerid, north Africa's largest salt lake and the setting for the thirteenth edition of Tunis Fashion Week. The youngest designer participating, 18-year-old Haroun Ghanmi, celebrates the Tunisian techno scene, while fellow designer Yousra Sen creates one-of-a-kind pieces. Everyone here knows the value of a beautiful backdrop – the communications potential was too good to miss even for Ukrainian label Kristina Laptso, whose team spent more than three days travelling to the festival's stunning location. However, the designer herself was unable to leave Lviv.
We all know the drill: the winners of prestigious fashion prizes are lauded by all, showered with flowers and thrust into the limelight. But what about the other finalists, who go home empty handed? At the 37th edition of the Hyères International Fashion Festival, 10 designers made it to the final round. Only three won prizes, so we decided to give the floor to the other seven, all of them fiercely creative and determined to make their mark on the fashion industry.
Things aren’t looking great for the future of the planet, but this year's Hyères International Fashion Festival has some innovative suggestions. Designers from across the world are coming up with increasingly daring ways to reduce fashion's ecological footprint. The big winners of the festival's 37th edition – Jenny Hytönen, Valentin Lessner and Sini Saavala – show us how it’s done.
The first is an English designer who fights for a cleaner world, through more responsible design. The second is an Australian lingerie designer who also works as an artist. The third is a Ukrainian designer, determined to stay true to her cultural and sartorial roots. Stella McCartney, Michaela Stark and Lilia Litkovska are three women using fashion to undermine oppression, whatever form it may take. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.
The luxury sector has never been so healthy, in both financial and creative terms. At Dior, Maria-Grazia Chiuri has called on artist Eva Jospin to design a grotto made from recycled carboard to serve as a backdrop to her fashion tribute to Catherine de Médicis. Meanwhile, up-and-coming talents Victor Weinsanto and Vincent Pressiat are embracing a collective, collaborative attitude as an antidote to the hostilities and harsh realities of the current moment. We take a closer look.
Started by former model Valérie Ka, the Africa Fashion Up contest highlights African talent and puts the continent’s social and economic priorities centre stage. This year’s winners hail from Ivory Coast, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya and Congo Brazzaville and will be mentored by Balenciaga and France's HEC Paris Business School. The Grand Prix was shared between South Africa's energetic Jacques Bam and laid-back Kenyan designer Muyishime Edi Patrick. We take a closer look.
On August 5, the fashion industry lost an exceptional 20th century talent. Issey Miyake was revered for his pleats, his singular approach to movement and for his lifelong research into textiles. Known as a retiring figure who preferred to see his creative team take centre stage, his idea of fashion was a collective, family dynamic. A community spirit echoed today in the work of South African designer Lukhanyo Mdingi and French designer Céleste Durry. We take a closer look.
Haute couture is a sartorial discipline revered in France and across the world, but at its best it's also an expression of often complex philosophical ideas and convictions. Designers are continually grappling with the tension between body and spirit, between being and merely appearing, between functionality and seduction. FRANCE 24 takes a deep dive into the latest Haute couture collections from Iris van Herpen, Yuima Nakazato, Imane Ayissi, Adeline André and Alexandre Vauthier.
No matter the state of the world, fashion’s job is to keep people dreaming. By emphasising the power of artistry, fashion not only provides welcome distraction, but props up the economy – and can also be subtly political. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri is working hand-in-hand with Kyiv-based artist Olesia Trofymenko. Jean-Paul Gaultier meanwhile, now managed by Spanish group Puig, has invited Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing to interpret the label’s sartorial DNA.
Fashion today is about creating new paradigms: making beautiful and desirable clothes that also have a deep conscience. Thirty-year-old Marine Serre is one of the figureheads of a new generation of socially engaged young designers. Her summer 2023 menswear collection is all about inclusion and diversity in all their forms. Meanwhile, her fellow designer Jeanne Friot is determined to introduce the world to the joys of unisex clothing.
To mark the opening of its new exhibition "On the Road to Chiefdoms of Cameroon", Paris's Musée du Quai Branly gave multidisciplinary Cameroonian artist Blick Bassy carte blanche. His first move was to invite Cameroonian musicians Kareyce Fotso, Ami Yerewolo and Poundo to put on a concert. For him, these three women represent the contemporary African new wave, with a dynamic vision of how to celebrate African culture around the world – including an important role for fashion.
No art form is better suited to interrogating the representation of the body, and the value society attributes to our bodies, than dance. The dance collective (La)Horde has headed up Marseille's National Ballet since September 2019. For more than 10 years, Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel have been coming up with new and exciting ways to conceive of the medium of dance, both classical and contemporary. They are also shaking things up on the fashion front. We take a closer look.
This year's ready-to-wear winter collections are all about love and seduction: the delicate balance between what's shown and what isn't. Vaquera has found inspiration in the iconic black latex jumpsuit worn by Maggie Cheung in the 1996 film "Irma Vep" directed by Olivier Assayas. Victor Weinsanto, meanwhile, showcases an extravagant corset-and-cape look for "Emily in Paris" star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu. Finally, the Love Brings Love exhibition offers a moving homage to late iconic designer Alber Elbaz.
The 9th edition of FIMO, Togo's international fashion festival, didn’t open with a series of fashion shows, but instead with a science symposium organised by the University of Lomé. The theme of the discussion: how to pursue ethical fashion production while Africa continues to be the recipient of thousands of tonnes of the rest of the world’s unsold merchandise? And how to make the most of the rich pool of African design talent? We get some insightful answers from designers, fashion students and academics.
The Lyon Fashion Film Festival is open to admissions from both art schools and brands. This year’s second edition of the event showcased a parade of fresh young talents who aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers. The winner of the designers' prize, Rémy Perrier, credits fashion with helping him to discover his true queer identity. Meanwhile, the collective 16:25 was awarded the Students' Prize for "Programmé.e", their mesmerising depiction of the drawn-out agony of the mourning process, juxtaposed with the frenetic pace of disposable fashion. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.
He doesn't often speak to the media, but when he does, we listen. Since 2018, Italian designer Riccardo Tisci has been at the helm of British fashion powerhouse Burberry. The chief creative officer speaks to us exclusively about his life and his sartorial vision. Back in Paris, we take a look at the latest offerings from Yohji Yamamoto and Christelle Kocher, who both place diversity and cultural exchanges at the heart of their work.
This year’s Berlin Fashion Week, which was held in one of the city’s former electrical factories mid-March, was largely focused on the work of Jean Gritsfeldt. The Ukrainian fashion designer was unable to attend in person as he could not leave Kyiv due to the war. But activist movement Fashion Revolution managed to recreate key items of his collection from scratch. It was a powerful cross-border collaboration and a message of peace, which Berlin designers Esther Perbandt and Natacha Von Hirschhausen helped to spread.
With war raging in Ukraine, it's not easy to know how to speak about fashion – if at all. The best answer is to face the paradox. Thanks to the French Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion, Ukrainian designer Lilia Litovskaya is now safe in Paris. At Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, who fled a Kremlin-backed civil war in Georgia in 1993, offers up a hostile backdrop for his collection. Labels Marine Serrre, Atlein, Benmoyal and Germanier, meanwhile, are championing freedom of expression with their eco-friendly offerings.
War may have broken out in Europe, but the world of fashion has decided that the show – that is, next winter's ready-to-wear Fashion Week – must go on. Financial interests no doubt played a large part in that decision, but so too did the conviction that now isn't the time to be stifling artistic expression. For the occasion, Dior takes advantage of technological innovation, Caribbean duo Botter defend coral reefs and the French Institute of Fashion encourages its students to embrace virtual reality.
For the ninth edition of FIMO228, Togo's international fashion festival, the event's founder Jacques Logoh is training the spotlight on a diverse cast of models. Larissa Solim Amelete, the face of this year's event, has succeeded in getting her family to support her modelling career, while Cathy Crussy, a TV producer, is in her 50s. Then there's Rebecca Attiogbé, who drives a forklift truck for a day job, and Alex Sef, the androgynous muse for Ethiopian label Afropian this season. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.
Haute couture is about innovation and exquisite tailoring, but it's also about ideas. Franco-Cameroonian designer Imane Ayissi, the first Black designer honoured with the title of "couturier" by France's Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion, offers a collection that fuses Western and African influences. Meanwhile, Japan's Yuima Nakazato interrogates the limits of our abilities of perception with his "Liminal" collection. And after a two-year absence, Lebanese couturier Elie Saab is overjoyed to be back in Paris. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks at Paris Fashion Week.
January's summer 2022 Couture Fashion Week showcased the latest sartorial offerings from 17 labels, just over half the number included in the official calendar due to ongoing Covid restrictions. Dior's Maria-Grazia Chiuri offered an ode to embroidery at Paris's Rodin museum, Jean Paul Gaultier handed the reigns of his empire over to Belgian designer Glenn Martens, while Alexandre Vauthier embraced the Roaring Twenties as an homage to our collective resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks.
Without a doubt, Louis Vuitton's collection was this year's most hotly anticipated runway show. It was dedicated to the late Virgil Abloh, the label's visionary creative director, who died of cancer in November 2021 at just 41. Covid-19 meant programming was a little lighter than usual, but a host of young labels also managed to put on shows: EgonLab, Georges Wendell and Lukhanyo Mdingi made a particularly good impression, while Kim Jones at Dior Homme put on one of the most beautiful shows of his career. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks at Paris Fashion Week.
The online world is increasingly an integral part of our lives, especially with the arrival of the metaverse. The world of fashion is eagerly eyeing up how the metaverse can be a place where we construct parallel identities, complete with digital wardrobes. But at what price? We get some answers from designer Julien Fournié, psychiatrist Serge Tisseron, as well as Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, co-founder of Arianee, a platform that helps brands create new digital experiences.
For decades, Tunisia has been seen as a producer of fashion, but rarely a producer of fashion designers. But that's rapidly changing. For proof, look no further than the 12th edition of Tunis Fashion Week, which this year was held not in the capital, but in the city of Tozeur, on the edge of the desert. We take a closer look at three larger-than-life Tunisian designers: Hedi Ben Mami, Seif Dean Laouiti and Braim Klei.
The year 2021 didn’t get off to a great start, to say the least. The Covid-19 pandemic had already brought the world as we knew it to a standstill, and this year – once again – Fashion Weeks from London to New York were struck from calendars in the same of social distancing. But nevertheless, fashion has always known how to adapt. A new-found focus on inclusive casting and sustainable processes has been the result. FRANCE 24 takes a look back at some of the year's fashion highlights.
The death of Black designer Virgil Abloh at the age of just 41 has served as a reminder that fashion still has a way to go when it comes to diversity. Abloh, an African American, studied civil engineering and architecture, but was increasingly drawn to the world of music and later set up his own streetwear label, Off White. In 2018 he was named head of menswear at Louis Vuitton, becoming the first Black man to become the lead designer of a major French fashion house. For Abloh, fashion was inherently political; a means of furthering the fight against racism. We took a closer look at his legacy.
French fashion businesses here in France tend to go one of two ways: either they fail, or they thrive, before being bought up by a powerful luxury group. But some companies do manage to resist that fate – weathering economic crises, the challenges of a globalised economy and now the pandemic, all on their own. So how exactly do they do it and what makes them tick? We went to meet independent shoemakers Arche in the Loire Valley and Paris-based Weston to find out.
For Mariusca La Slameuse and Spirita Nanda, fashion and music go hand in hand. The clothes they wear, just like the music they sing, are fundamental elements of their artistry. Both women live and work in Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo. They're each famous as solo artists, but today they've joined forces to combat violence against children in the context of blended families. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.
Today, the fashion industry is increasingly waking up to the importance of acknowledging the full range of human experience in the clothes and messaging it puts out. Inclusion is in fashion and it's taking many exciting forms, from a catwalk show for amputees in Paris to a show by Parisian label Victoria/Tomas that uses the designers' mums as models, via a project that helps migrants pursue careers in textiles in France. FRANCE 24 brings you a round-up.
When she was only a teenager, Valerie Ka graced catwalks across the African continent as a model and muse. As her political consciousness grew, she became a flagbearer for contemporary African fashion around the world. Today, in a boutique hotel in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, she is overseeing the very first edition of her latest project: Share Africa.
After almost two years of empty catwalks, summer 2022's ready-to-wear collections were finally able to be shown in public, and designers rose to the occasion. Yohji Yamamoto's collection was all about the perils of climate change. But the standout feature of this season is an approach to fashion that privileges the female gaze, with Marine Serre, Dior and Isabel Marant all presenting clothes designed to be worn by women and enjoyed by women – rather than having men looking at them!
Florian, Antoine, Noémie and Juliette aren't students, they're interns. That's because at Casa 93, a non-fee-paying school for alternative fashion, there are no students, teachers or grades. It’s an approach that’s already bearing fruit on the outskirts of Paris. The school encourages collaborative working, overseen by industry professionals. The latest cohort of 20 young designers already have something to be proud of: a collaborative collection, accompanied by a film they’ve entitled "Inouï’" ("Unheard of"). We went to check it out.
Fashion is about creating desire and stimulating curiosity, and nowhere is that as apparent as with Cruise collections. Back in the 1920s, Cruise collections were marketed to wealthy clients who escaped the European winter and headed to more tropical climes. Today, a number of labels offer these mid-season collections to satisfy consumers' demand for novelty. We check out those of Chanel, Dior and Moschino.
Next winter's haute couture offerings are as concerned with protecting our oceans as they are about showcasing the best of ancestral savoir-faire. Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad rubs shoulders with Kerby Jean-Raymond, the first Black American to be invited to present his collection in Paris. Plus, the likes of Christophe Josse and Chanel celebrate the artistic accomplishments of their artisans, while Iris van Herpen embarks on a thrilling collaboration with Domitille Kiger, the French freeflying world champion!
Thread, the primary building block for any piece of clothing, is increasingly inspiring a number of fashion labels. At Dior, Maria-Grazia Chiuri experiments with a new tweed made from cashmere, while Indian designer Vaishali Shadangule creates her own fabrics from scratch as part of her homage to the power of nature. And Parisian designer Clara Daguin explores the intersection between science and mysticism through her beguiling use of fibre optic threads.
They dictate the latest trends, but the fashion stories published in glossy magazines can also be vehicles for questions about the world we live in. Laurent Dombrowicz is a fashion editor and stylist. For his latest work for the magazine Citizen K International, he's doing a shoot in Belgium inspired by Tim Burton's masterpiece "Edward Scissorhands" – a perfect context to explore questions of eccentricity, identity and acceptance. We went to meet him.
After seemingly endless months of cancelled and postponed events, life has almost returned to normal in the French capital. Theatres, cinemas and museums are throwing their doors wide open and catwalk shows are back. In Paris, Dior presented a dreamlike collection set against an arid decor, Parisian designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi created a collection for Chinese label Joeone, while Maroussia Rebecq, queen of upcycling, issued a defiant call for a "fashion revolution". We bring you a glimpse of Paris Fashion Week.
For years, fashion followed a simple formula: source, produce and sell – with any leftover stock simple thrown away or burned. But we gradually realised there was a different way of doing things. Fashion became notorious as a polluting industry. Could what's good for the planet also could also be good for business? The idea is now so ingrained it's even got its own university course at the prestigious French Institute of Fashion, with graduates awarded a Sustainable Development Certificate. We take a closer look.
In just a couple of decades, collaborations have opened up a world of possibilities for the world of fashion, with consumers now attuned to the letter X that indicates the marriage of two brands. High-profile collaborations include Prada x Raf Simons and Gucci x Balenciaga, but younger labels are also getting in on the action, as we've seen with La Draft Paris x Apnée. Commercial success is often a given, but the best fusions happen when the brands involved have a shared vision. We take a closer look.
He was exuberant, creative and undeniably eccentric. But he was also fundamentally curious – and loved nothing more than asking questions. Designer and stylist Alber Elbaz worked at Guy Laroche and Saint Laurent before going on to be creative director at Lanvin for 14 years. In January 2021, he launched his latest project, AZ Factory – the fruit of his desire to democratise fashion. He passed away just a few months later, aged 59, after contracting Covid-19. We take a look back at his legacy.
With her signature red lips and sharp black bob, Chantal Thomass is a true fashion icon, a woman who embodies the essence of her eponymous label. With several decades in the business under her belt, the designer has decided to put 650 pieces from her archives up for auction. Chantal Thomass is best known for her ground-breaking lingerie, but her ready-to-wear collections from the 1980s are also iconic.
Barbara Blanchard is a business owner on a mission. Her belief in the importance not only of diversity but also inclusion infuses everything she does. In the 1990s she helped put on a groundbreaking fashion show with Lamine Kouyaté, founder of the label Xuly Bët, casting 100 Black models at a time when diversity simply wasn't on the industry's radar. Today, she offers diversity training to companies, while also working as a talent agent and running a fashion label devoted to women's football. We went to meet this exceptional woman.
The pandemic has transformed way we consume and experience fashion. The latest Paris Fashion Week was entirely digital. For the first time in the event's history, proceedings kicked off with the work of students from the Paris-based French Institute of Fashion (IFM), who see their creations through the prism of cultural and political significance. Meanwhile in Johannesburg, South African designer Thebe Magugu is dedicated to reviving the "blaxploitation" cultural movement of the 1970s.
They were supposed to come from Johannesburg, Brazzaville, Lagos and Abidjan but their travel plans were thwarted by the Covid-19 pandemic The eighth edition of the Lomé International Fashion Festival had to recruit models from closer to home instead, with a handful managing to travel to the Togolese capital from Ghana and Gabon. So what exactly does it mean to be a model in Africa in 2021? We hear first-hand from some of those in the industry.