The designers, products, and trends that dominated Paris Fashion Week
The Glossy Podcast team reviews Paris Fashion Week, discussing standout designers like Alessandro Michele at Valentino and Mathieu Blossay at Chanel, highlighting key products and identifying major trends including belted low-rise skirts, sheer dressing, and the return of sportswear collaborations.
Summary
Danny Parisi, Zofia Zviglinska, and Jill Manoff discuss Paris Fashion Week, the final and largest event of Fashion Month. They analyze three designers, one product, and one trend each to comprehensively cover the week's impact.
For designers, Danny highlights Alessandro Michele at Valentino for his maximalist approach and anti-library concept inspired by Umberto Eco, where guests brought favorite books to the show—representing human creativity versus algorithmic design. Jill selects Chanel under Mathieu Blossay, noting his second collection moved from 'shock to awe,' showing unanimous approval and fresh takes on Chanel's classic codes without appearing stale or costumey. She praises the incorporation of artistic references and updated materials. Zofia picks Miu Miu for its appeal to younger customers, featuring crystal-encrusted bra tops, sharp blazers, and deliberately creased materials similar to Issey Miyake pleats, striking a balance between luxury and relatability.
For products, Jill identifies Miu Miu's Wrangler jeans collaboration with drawstring closures mimicking their New Balance sneaker details—recognizably Miu Miu without being logo-heavy. Danny highlights Saint Laurent's maximalist golden snake-heeled shoes with sculptural elements. Zofia focuses on Chanel's knitted shoes made from thick mesh material similar to Spanx and Rothy's, noting they're highly wearable but potentially cheaper to produce, raising questions about perceived value.
For trends, Jill identifies belted, low-slung skirts paired with statement belts from brands like Celine and Givenchy as a new silhouette seen across luxury brands. Zofia highlights sheer dressing as response to climate change, with designers using lightweight fabrics like chiffon and organza across outerwear and tailoring. Danny focuses on the return of sportswear and sneaker collaborations, noting unexpected prevalence of activewear elements, sports bras, and brand partnerships with athletic companies like Adidas, On, and Under Armour across high fashion.
The hosts discuss how designers are balancing heritage brand codes with innovation, prioritizing wearability and accessibility, and responding to global warming through material and silhouette choices.
About this episode
With Paris Fashion Week over, we've officially reached the end of this season's Fashion Month. For the latest Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi, international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff, came prepared to discuss Paris Fashion Week, including a designer that impressed them, a runway product that made an impact and a trend that said something about the state of the fashion industry. Here are their picks.
Key Insights
- Alessandro Michele's Valentino show deliberately rejected algorithmic design by curating books and references that no AI would combine, representing human creative inspiration over data-driven fashion decisions.
- Mathieu Blossay's second Chanel collection successfully evolved from shocking the audience to earning unanimous approval by maintaining brand codes while incorporating fresh artistic references and updated materials like knitted shoes.
- Luxury brands are increasingly using cheaper-to-produce materials like thick mesh knits (common in mass-market brands like Rothy's) in high-end collections without reducing retail prices, creating potential value perception issues.
- The low-rise belted skirt silhouette emerged as a genuinely new fashion silhouette across multiple luxury brands including Chanel, Schiaparelli, and Miu Miu, representing a notable departure from recent trends.
- Designers are responding to global warming by shifting from heavy fall/winter fabrics to lightweight materials like chiffon, organza, and linen, even for autumn collections, fundamentally changing seasonal dressing expectations.
- Sportswear collaborations between luxury brands and athletic companies (Adidas, On, Under Armour) are experiencing revival or continued prominence at Paris Fashion Week despite reaching apparent saturation two years ago.
- Miu Miu successfully bridges generational appeal by combining Gen Z styling preferences (sports bras as tops, unconventional combinations) with separates that function as individual statement pieces recognizable without logos.
- The knitted shoe material trend demonstrates how technical fabric innovations can make luxury products more wearable while simultaneously reducing production costs, creating tension between accessibility and luxury positioning.
Topics
Transcript
Hello and welcome back to the Glossy Podcast. I am your host, Senior Fashion Reporter Danny Parisi, and I'm here with both of my co-hosts, international reporter Zofia Zviglinska. Hello, Zofia. Hi. How's everyone? I'm good. Thank you for being here. And we also have our Editor-in-Chief, Jill Manoff. Hello, Jill. Hi. Excited to talk. I'm excited you. Hello, Jill. Hi, excited to talk. I'm excited you're here, Jill. You're in town, right? You're in New York? I am. I'm in town for Advertising Week, and I've got some fun panels with Revlon and Moose Knuckles and Matt Projects. So yeah, happy to be here. I can always tell when you're not at home because your background is different. It's…
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to AccessMore from The Glossy Podcast
3 major takeaways from an extravagant, maximalist Milan Fashion Week
Three Glossy fashion reporters discuss three major themes from Milan Fashion Week: maximalist styling with layered clothes and accessories (the 'Mathieu Blaise effect'), bold experimental footwear replacing the quiet luxury minimalism of recent seasons, and a shift toward customer-centric show formats where attendees become part of the presentation. All themes reflect a move toward inspiring purchases and celebrating individual style over subdued aesthetics.
Is London Fashion Week really back?
In this Glossy Podcast episode, Danny Parisi and Zofia Zwiglinska discuss London Fashion Week (September 17-21), analyzing major shows from designers like Mulberry, Burberry, and Alexander McQueen. They explore themes of commercial accessibility, emerging designers, buyer engagement, and the role of sponsorships in supporting independent fashion brands.
6 new things we saw at New York Fashion Week
Fashion reporters Danny Parisi and Jill Manoff discuss six notable trends from New York Fashion Week, including a controversial incident involving CFDA president Stephen Kolb, increased casualization and accessibility in collections, mixing of vintage with new pieces, enhanced brand storytelling, proliferation of official after-parties, and more experiential show formats that prioritized guest comfort and entertainment.