Paris, Europe Brief News – Paris fashion week has launched after nearly two years during which most brands were forced online.
Some 17 of the 76 brands of the official Paris menswear calendar – including big names like Dior, Hermes and Rick Owens – will be back on the Paris Fashion Week, up from just six last summer.
Nearly 30 others are opting for other types of in-person events, including inviting journalists, buyers and other tastemakers to less formal gatherings around the French capital.
Louis Vuitton will present the much-awaited final collection from US designer Virgil Abloh. Abloh died in November at the age of 41.
Abloh was the first black man to become the lead designer of a major French fashion house.
Some changes have already been announced: the Sidaction charity evening to raise money for AIDS research, that traditionally marks the end of the haute couture week, has been postponed until July.
Paris is Going Ahead
Despite the complications caused by the pandemic, the fashion community is stepping out regardless. Most fashion houses are returning to live shows as the menswear week kicks off, followed immediately by haute couture shows.
Giorgio Armani cancelled his menswear show in Milan and haute couture show in Paris over the latest Covid surge.
That decision sparked a sense of deja-vu as it was the 87-year-old Italian maestro who was first to cancel his catwalk shows in the early days of the pandemic in February 2020.
“It’s their choice,” said Pascal Morand, head of France’s Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion.
He said the federation makes several recommendations, including the use of FFP2 masks. But he was happy to see brands returning to the life sphere.
“We have learned to live with the virus,” he told AFP. “Digital enriches the physical, but it can’t replace the emotion and sensory side of the runway shows.”
London cancelled its menswear show this month due to uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the highly-infectious Omicron variant. But Paris is going ahead as scheduled.
