Published
October 5, 2025
Amid downpours and traffic jams, Paris Fashion Week on Saturday enjoyed a quartet of highly distinctive shows from an epic Alaïa, the brooding Maison Margiela, the uber-equestrian Hermès and the ebullient Vivienne Westwood.
Alaïa: epic staging, energetic collection
That’s what we call intelligent synergy. Creative director Pieter Mulier brought his latest show for the Alaïa house to the Cartier Foundation, a brand also owned by Richemont, and the result was a spectacle of pure beauty.
Staged on the ground floor of the Jean Nouvel-designed foundation, the entire floor was made of LED panels, allowing the cast to parade through magnificent images of female beauty, with close-ups of faces the size of squash courts. A mirrored ceiling meant photography saturated the space, increasing the sense of drama.
“I wanted to create a cocoon of images,” Mulier smiled, as he was showered with praise.
Referencing the house’s sexy empowerment DNA, the Belgian designer created elegant cocktails in technical fibres, silk or ribbed fabrics with sheer inset bibs and diagonal fringes that were impeccable.
He cut strict capes and tunics from lizard skin and draped with enormous skill: a series of layered V-shaped skirts and pleats of cotton and silk jersey were impressive. Like a perfect black leather one with offset shoulders that was transformed into a great dress. One of the alleged founders, Azzedine, would have loved that look.
“Sexy, but always very simple and precise,” said Mulier, dressed in a sweatshirt and white socks, old jeans and loafers, as he embraced his former boss Raf Simons in a huge hug at the end.
He took big risks, with hanging fringed pants and surgical gowns. Their cotton coats looked like conceptual garments: short in front and grazing the ankles in the back. However, Mulier could occasionally be guilty of overthinking with dresses that suddenly tied around the ankle or sweaters that seemed to buckle around models’ arms. Not exactly empowering, nor is Alaïa.
But overall this was a memorable moment. And a reminder that Richemont’s fashion division, once a troublemaker, is a center of excellence and profit.
Maison Margiela: silenced lambs, noisy children
In his couture debut for Maison Margiela, Glenn Martens insisted on covering each model’s head with a mask or hood. For his ready-to-wear debut for the house this season, Glenn placed braces in each model’s mouth, so their teeth glinted angrily, Silence of the Lambs style.
In July, when masked ICE agents had just begun cruelly rounding up supposedly illegal immigrants, seeing masked models was disconcerting to say the least. Now, in the midst of a brutal crackdown on free speech, seeing one’s mouth forcibly kept open was disconcertingly heavy-handed. The point could have been made clear with just a few glances.
The discordant atmosphere was enlivened and highlighted by a live children’s orchestra. Dressed in orchestral costumes on an all-white stage, they played, out of tune and out of tune, classic works such as Bizet’s “Carmen,” Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” and Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
A strange juxtaposition with the witness of Hannibal Lecter’s casting. That said, Martens produced a very good, sometimes brilliant collection, especially when it came to tailoring.
Pondering a novel concept, a splendid new tuxedo vest and cutting some fantastic blazers and dusters with dropped waists.
His lapel-less denim jackets and twisted jeans with exposed drawstrings looked great, as did similar versions in distressed rawhide. And she had a very Margiela moment in some slip dresses finished off with simulated silver duct tape.
Glenn went into overdrive when he “rejected” an idea for his couture debut in July. A beautiful series of 16th century floral prints seen on seductively eye-catching dresses and cocktails.
However, the most notable memory of the show would have to be the models’ mouths.
Hermès: decidedly equestrian
No designer was closer to a brand’s DNA this season than Nadège Vanhee, who played with equestrian motifs in every look.
At Chez Hermès, they often refer to the horse as their first customer, and equine motifs informed every passage of this show, presented with consummate elegance within the Garde Républicaine riding center.
Their key fabric was the finest matelassé and quilted leather extracted from horse blankets, used primarily in seductive tops, corsets and some magnificent wrap skirts.
Rarely have we seen a tighter collection from Hermès: from the black and beige waxed leather covers, paired with riding boots, the models strolling seductively. Guests sat on wooden posts, while the cast ran past a walkway dotted with seashells.
Nadège was inspired by a Camargue saddle and Provençal motifs permeated many looks. Sometimes a little too literal and provincial.
A striking series of boleros and urban jackets were finished with silver steel fasteners, horse bits, mini stirrups and leather reins. Spicy, as well as racing, were the words that came to mind when watching this spectacle with its strict silhouettes and revealing flesh. And, frankly, hotpants and Hermès were two words we never expected to write in the same sentence.
Nadège is a very talented designer who has created a lot of work with Hermès. But this season it seemed like he was trying too hard to be cool.
Vivienne Westwood: boudoir and beauty
Few British fashion houses are more beloved in France than Vivienne Westwood, adored by the general public, respected by all designers and celebrated on Saturday with an epic afternoon show.
A collection presented within the Holy of Holies of France, the Institute of France, where the country’s greatest writers, intellectuals and scientists are enshrined.
Since Vivienne’s death, her successor and ex-husband, Andreas Kronthaler, has run the house. And this was his biggest collection yet. Titled “Boudoir”, it managed to combine lingerie, pajamas, pampering, voluptuousness and mischief in a great display.
Made from rich jacquards and Italian damasks, mixed with drapery materials, the collection was often an explosion of color. She created magnificent dresses that managed to perfectly mix historicism with modernity.
In a co-ed show, boys strutted in micro-outfits, topped with fragments of contrasting silk blouses: leopard print, tie-dye and plaid. A disco dragon wowed in a plaid three-piece suit where the pants were mini shorts and his feet were clad in perforated pirate boots.
Both men and women wore elegant silk double-breasted suits, like the one in which Andreas made his bow.
With Paris and Nicky Hilton sitting front row, Andreas offered the coolest finale: Heidi Klum, as a tongue-in-cheek take on her Victoria’s Secret era. Look sensational as a Restoration-era femme fatale in a crystal-encrusted white leotard, garters, and a cloud of taffeta.
Kronthaler got huge applause as he greeted Klum. Holding a five-foot-long bouquet of sunflowers, she then led the cast to pose together on the steps of the Institut, amid thunderous cheers.
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