Fashion Week in Paris

If fashion were a country, Paris would be its capital, with the permission of Milan and New York, of course. The French city exudes elegance and glamor in all of its boulevards and avenues, and its inhabitants often showcase their good taste in their daily outfits. For this reason, when you walk around the city it feels a bit like you’re on a makeshift catwalk where none of the passersby lack style.

Paris is the epicenter and home to the fashion industry, and from March 3 to 11, will bring together the crème de la crème of the industry for Fashion Week Autumn-Winter 2015/2016. Get ready, fashion addicts, because the most anticipated prêt-à-porter styles for the next season are coming to the French capital.

The moment of Chanel

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of this Fashion Week in Paris is the show by maison Chanel parade, led by German designer Karl Lagerfeld. This fashion show will take place at the Grand Palais on March 10 starting at 10:30 am. Fashion critics, models, celebrities, and other trend hunters take a seat in the front row of this company whose reign in the fashion world started back in 1910, when it was founded by legendary designer Coco Chanel.

The history of this fashion house can even be traced through the footsteps of its founder throughout the streets of Paris. This route starts at number 21 Rue Cambon, where she opened her first store, and culminates in the Church of the Madeleine, where her funeral was celebrated with all the well-known names of the fashion world in attendance. This itinerary does not escape the ostentatious Place Vendôme, around which Coco’s life was built. In 1921 she took up residence in the Hotel Ritz and she used to buy macarons at Ladurée, browse the perfumes at Guerlain on the Champs Elysees. If you want to know more about the life of this famous designer, we recommend the film Coco avant Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou as the protagonist.

 

At Christian Dior

One of the other most anticipated events of the Fashion Week in Paris is the Dior show, which will take place on March 6 at 2:30 pm. This prestigious company has also gained extensive experience in the sector since its founding by designer Christian Dior in 1947. This brand has dressed big stars like Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Ava Garder, and more recently, Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence and Marion Cotillard. But if anyone can be consider Dior’s muse it was Marlene Dietrich. The German actress was an intimate friend and neighbor of Christian Dior in the Montaigne Avenue in Paris. She was also a self-confessed fan of his work, which resulted in the designer coining the phrase ‘No Dior, no Dietrich.’

Today, it’s possible to get to know the life and work of Christian Dior by visiting his house, which is located in Grandville, his hometown in Normandy. This residence has been transformed into a museum that gives an overview of his creations from the company’s founding until today.

The legend of Saint-Laurent

Another jewel in the crown of the Fashion Week in Paris is the show of Saint-Laurent, at 8:30 pm on March 9. Although the company has not been a fashion house since the one and only Ives closed his atélier in Marceau Avenue in 2002, the Gucci Group manages the brand and has maintained its Prêt-à-Porter line, star of the catwalk this week fashion.

After studying under Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent founded his company in 1962. His creations have been worn by celebrities like Catherine Deneuve, Claudia Cardinale, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, and Laetitia Casta. From his mansion on Babylone Street, next to Les Invalides and Napoleon’s tomb, the designer created his own legend, as portrayed in the film Yves Saint Laurent, which stars Pierre Niney as the couturier.

If reading this post has made you long to visit Paris, take a look at our apartments in Paris. You will love what you see!