Fashion month is over. New York rediscovered restraint, London welcomed back a prodigal house, and Milan proved that heritage doesn't have to feel dusty. But when we look back at the shows that truly moved us, the ones we'll still be talking about next season, almost all of them happened in Paris.
Hot: what we loved this season
Less, but better
New York reminded us how powerful simplicity can be. At Calvin Klein, Veronica Leoni showed in a bare-brick Chelsea warehouse, with a single Walter De Maria steel installation as décor. Her brief? "Take everything away." And what was left? "Desire," she told AnOther. Narrow tailoring, slip skirts, washed denim and a sheer organza skirt worn with flat sandals: nothing more than needed, and that's exactly why it worked. In a season full of noise, Calvin Klein trusted the clothes.
At Khaite, Catherine Holstein took the same clean foundations somewhere softer. Kaia Gerber opened the show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and from there, sheer tulle covered in 3D flowers, ruffles and trapeze skirts met the label's sharp black trousers and pointed pumps. Minimalism, but with a heartbeat.
Khaite Spring/Summer 2027 in New York | Credit: Khaite
Heritage, without the dust
In Milan, two houses showed how to use their history without getting stuck in it. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons built an entire collection around one garment, the skirt, in every length and every mood.
"The skirt is a contemporary object because it is flexible and adaptable. It invites contradiction."
Miuccia Prada
The materials played tricks on the eye too, with nylon pleated to look like cotton and cotton finished to pass for leather. Clever, playful and very Prada.
At Gucci, Demna turned his runway into a full-size Gucci store and dug into the house's most glamorous decades: equestrian looks and horsebit belts, mini skirt suits with stilettos, slinky cut-out gowns. "Gucci is about luxury that wants to be seen". Two seasons in, his Gucci feels confident, sexy and fun, and it gives the house a clear new direction.
Back in Paris, Hermès did heritage the quiet way. In the courtyard of the Garde républicaine, Nadège Vanhée built her collection around the zip, which changed the length of skirts and ran along leather jackets, while ultra-fine bridle leather became an accessory or even a garment. Light, airy and precise, it came at a delicate moment for the house: Hermès shares have lost about 39% since January, partly due to weaker demand in China, according to FashionUnited. Hermès answered the pressure the way only Hermès can: by staying exactly who it is.
The homecoming
London's big moment was McQueen. Seán McGirr brought the house back to the city for its first mainline show there in more than 25 years, according to some, at Lincoln's Inn Chapel. "It's not about leaving Paris, but it is about returning to the roots," McGirr said. The sharp tailoring was the highlight, but the symbol mattered just as much: a house born in London, showing in London again.
The habits we could do without
Front rows louder than runways. The most-talked-about shows online weren't always about the clothes. In Milan, Moschino got more social mentions than any other house, largely thanks to two Thai stars in the front row. Celebrity guests are part of the fun, but we'd love the collections to get as much attention as the guest list.
The celebrity runway. More and more shows cast actors and influencers instead of models, and one Paris runway this season counted about fifteen famous faces. A fun surprise once in a while; as a habit, we'd rather let the clothes take center stage.
London's stars heading to Paris. London's buyer numbers are up, but Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham and Kiko Kostadinov now show in Paris. The City of Love's gain is London's loss. We hope McQueen's return inspires a few more to come home.
Paris Always Does It Best
From September 28 to October 6, the city packed more than a hundred shows into nine days and yet the best ones never felt like part of a crowd. Paris is where heritage houses took risks, where designers had something to say, and where even a farewell was staged like a love letter to fashion.
What struck us most was the range. A designer used her runway to talk about the oceans, a hundred-year-old house felt younger than ever, and couture came down from its pedestal to become something you could actually wear. Four shows in particular stayed with us.
Elie Saab: our favorite show of the season
Elie Saab called its collection À Fleur de Peau, inspired by "Jean Harlow's effortless allure and timeless glamour," according to the house, and imagined for "a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve." On October 3, that woman came to life in fluid dresses that skimmed the body, sheer voile and lace, asymmetric hems and linings left deliberately visible, while a loose trench tied over cascading sheer skirts brought the glamour back down to daytime.
Elie Saab Show in Paris for Spring/Summer 2027 | Credit: wwd.com
Vogue France said it best: the collection is flirting with the idea of being dressed and undressed at once. That's exactly what we loved. In a season obsessed with concepts, Elie Saab simply reminded us how good a woman can feel in a beautiful dress. No manifesto, no stunt, just sensuality and lightness, done with a lightness of touch few houses can match. It was our favorite show of the season.
Elie Saab Show in Paris for Spring/Summer 2027 | Credit: wwd.com
Stella McCartney: fashion with something to say
In the gardens of the British ambassador's residence, Stella McCartney opened her show with a voiceover by David Attenborough: "We have drained the life from our ocean". The collection carried the message all the way through: wave embroideries on the hips, bubble hems, orca and dolphin prints, a coral trench, and transparent bags holding starfish.
Stella McCartney SS27 in Paris | Credit: Stella McCartney
What makes McCartney stand out is what her clothes are made of. She still uses no leather, makes her bags from mushroom and grape-based alternatives, and used the show to call on big luxury groups to scale up materials like organic cotton and lab-grown wool. "Sea life or seafood, what's my choice?" she asked. While most of the industry talks about heritage, McCartney talks about the future, and she does it with clothes you actually want to wear. That combination is rare, and it made hers our favorite show of the season.
Chanel: proof that a heritage house can move fast
One year after his arrival, Matthieu Blazy has made Chanel the show everyone wants a seat at. Under a flock of golden swallows hanging over the Grand Palais, his third ready-to-wear collection followed Gabrielle Chanel through her many lives: the corseted Edwardian girl, the woman who borrowed men's tailoring, the creator of 1930s bias-cut gowns. Blazy described it as a collection about the women hidden in every woman, and the show opened and closed with Gabrielle Chanel's own 2.55 bag, taken from the archives.
Chanel Spring/Summer 2027 in Paris | Credit: Chanel
The real story is what this means for the house. Chanel's sales rose about 16% in the first half of the year, according to Bloomberg, while most of luxury is still struggling. A year ago, Chanel was a beautiful house in need of a spark. Today, it's the one setting the pace. That's not just a good collection. That's a turnaround.
Chanel Spring/Summer 2027 in Paris | Credit: Chanel
Schiaparelli: couture you can actually wear
Daniel Roseberry turned down the surrealism and turned up the seduction. In the basement of the Carrousel du Louvre, Schiaparelli showed low, sculptural necklines held by gold hardware, archival embroidered jackets, and shorts of every length styled for evening. The drama and the jewelry-like details were all there, but for once, you could easily picture the clothes off the runway.
Schiaparelli Spring/Summer 2027 in Paris | Credit: Schiaparelli
That was exactly the idea. "We don't have a 'commercial' collection," Roseberry wrote in his show notes, as reported by Who What Wear.
"What we show is what we produce is what is purchased is what is worn."
Where many houses keep a dream for the runway and a different reality for the stores, Schiaparelli refused to split the two. That takes confidence, and it paid off: it was the second most-talked-about house in Paris online, right behind Dior.
And one more
Paris also gave us the season's most emotional show. At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello marked ten years at the house with 49 looks in gold, then black, in front of the Eiffel Tower, before handing a set of keys to the audience. His departure was indeed just confirmed. The collection leaned on the archives more than on new ideas, but as a moment, nothing this season came close.
Why Paris still wins
Paris didn't just have the most shows we loved. It had the widest range of ideas: a designer using the runway to defend the oceans, a heritage house reinventing itself in a single year, a couture house making drama wearable, a house that made sensuality feel effortless, and a creative director turning a possible goodbye into the season's most beautiful image. Even British designers now come here to show. Every city had its moments this season, but Paris is where fashion felt the most alive. It still does it best.