Signals

France – At Paris Fashion Week, designers turned clothes into everyday armour – or, as we coined on LS:N Global in 2023, Safety Fits. Rain might have been falling from the ceiling at Hermès, but the models were well protected. In her show notes, creative director Nadège Vanhée described the collection, The Rider, as one designed for an urban woman ready to brave the elements – brazenly riding a bike or a horse towards new adventures. Models were donned in head-to-toe leather, thick riding boots and studded dresses with small purses tied to their waist, ready for any chic combat.

Inspired by the quote ‘fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life’, Chitose Abe, founder and creative director of Sacai, also referenced the ‘emotional protection’ that clothing can afford its wearer. For Abe, this took the form of boxy silhouettes, oversized utilitarian jackets with high-necked tops peeking out and huge, inflated pockets.

Meanwhile, Acne’s collection was inspired by Estonian artist Villu Jaanisoo’s ‘mechanical’ treatment of objects. In the almost apocalyptic collection models wore full-length trucker denim dresses, Icelandic shearling coats and leather dresses with in-built armoured breastplates, accessorised with padlocks for earrings and gunmetal necklaces.

As analysed in our New York Fashion Week download, utilitarian safety fits were featured in the collection of brands such as Helmut Lang and Tory Burch.

France – Fashion weeks are inevitably a time of excess and Paris was no exception. But if you looked closely enough, nods to new codes of sustainability were emerging.

Balenciaga set the stage before the shows even began, with an unusual invitation in the form of an eBay package. Inside, each guest unwrapped a unique vintage offering from creative director Demna Gvasalia, with an invitation reading: ‘The Winter 24 invitation is a random object found on eBay, the platform used by Demna to search for antique collectibles. These inspire the imagination of personal stories, which gives the objects a new life.’ The invitation acted as a creative endorsement of circularity, something Balenciaga would have done well to further incorporate into its catwalk show.

Meanwhile, Stella McCartney’s winter 2024 collection was presented as a ‘message from Mother Earth’ that it’s ‘about f*cking time’ to make some changes’. The designs drew inspiration from the draped, light dresses McCartney’s late mother, Linda McCartney, wore, as well as referencing the image of the girl boss through power suits with strong shoulders. This season, 90% of the brand’s ready-to-wear collection was crafted from sustainable materials such as Uppeal, one of the plant-based leathers redefining luxury.

For more insights on materials, head to our analysis of Material Matters 2023.