'New chapter': Paris Fashion Week to showcase industry makeover
Shows by Saint Laurent and Weinsanto will kick off a hotly anticipated Paris Fashion Week following a blockbuster celebration of Giorgio Armani in Milan after his death earlier this month.
Attention will switch from the Italian fashion capital to the French one where a historic Spring-Summer 2026 season is set to underline the massive changes underway in the top ranks of the global luxury clothing industry.
VIPs and fashionistas are all jostling for the hottest ticket in Paris, the debut of Franco-Belgian Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, which has been held back until the penultimate day on October 6.
Monday will see collections from Saint Laurent, France's Weinsanto and Belgian Julie Kegels, a newcomer, with the first day of Paris Fashion Week typically packed with VIP and celebrity sightings.
Many A-listers from Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close to Richard Gere turned out on Sunday evening for the Giorgio Armani show in Milan, the final collection the Italian designer worked on before his death earlier this month.
It had originally been intended as a celebration of 50 years of Armani's fashion house, but the show became a tribute to a legend, who died on September 4 aged 91.
Attention in Paris will be on a new younger generation of designers taking the reins at major labels, with the sector as a whole banking on the changes to infuse fresh excitement and hopefully boost flagging sales.
"We're opening a new chapter, not so much for Fashion Week itself, but for what fashion will be over the next 10 years," Pierre Groppo, fashion editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair magazine in France, told AFP.
Blazy was poached from Kering-owned Italian brand Bottega Veneta to take over at French powerhouse Chanel and he faces the daunting task of turning the page on Karl Lagerfeld's decades-long dominance.
The "Kaiser" defined the hugely profitable brand up to his death in 2019 and was succeeded by his longtime co-worker Virginie Viard, who was seen as a successful continuity candidate.
Blazy, who first caught the eye as a designer at Maison Margiela, took one of the most sought-after spots in the fashion business in December and has given almost nothing away about his intentions.
