Fashion Fandoms Conquer Paris

Owens titled the collection “Hollywood,” a nod to his time spent living on Hollywood Boulevard, the place where he says he really became himself and was able to embrace his creativity. There were insanely gorgeous gold-painted column dresses as well as gold knit gowns cut out and spliced up in such a way that it looked as though they were dripping off the body. Sculptural jackets were paired with goth opera gloves, and almost all of the skirts came with trains. It was in many ways a collection of Owens’ greatest hits, the house codes he defined, worn by a group of people who represent the vastness and vibrancy of his beloved fanbase.

Last season, Owens showed his fall collection at his home. He did so in order to practice some restraint and reverence in the midst of the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza (and elsewhere in the world). But, as he also said backstage post-show, “it ended up being a message of exclusion” because the people who are usually able to watch the show from outside the Palais De Tokyo couldn’t. For Spring 2025, he wanted to do what he’d done with his men’s show this summer and invite students to model. “It was an army of love to combat any army of hate that you see in the world,” he said.

A very different fan army was on full display at Schiaparelli, where throngs of screaming Kardashian-heads waited outside the venue to get a look at Kylie Jenner, who attended, or her sister Kendall, who walked in the show. Inside, women were decked out in full Schiaparelli camp, sipping champagne in their jackets with gold lip and eye buttons.

The collection was a celebration of sexiness, modeled by fashion’s icons of sexy: Adriana Lima, Irina Shayk, and Candice Swanenpoel. In practice, this meant corsets with jeans that curved down and around the hips, a gold bodycon dress with a keyhole at the bust and naughty little skirt suits with exposed bras. Daniel Roseberry’s designs have morphed over the last couple of seasons from surrealist to sensual-everyday, and the hot crowd that came out to play for the show last night certainly proved the shift has staying power.

Play was—and always is—the name of the game at All-In, a still-emerging label from designers Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø. On the 40th floor of a Parisian office building, the designers set up a small, elevated catwalk for their models who included Colin Jones, a woman with the walk of the gods. The collection was styled by Lotta Volkova and titled “Uptown Girl.” Really, the clothes looked like Working Girl’s Tess and Carrie Bradshaw got spun up in a blender and spit out as a Dimes Square version of Samantha Jones. Messy glam was the vibe and it was fabulous.

Barron and Vestbø realized this complex, kooky, crazy beautiful woman through deconstructed denim, mini ruffle skirts worn over pants, ‘80s-style sweatsuit jackets with padded shoulders, and a patchworked polka-dot silk scarf dress. The crowd cheered and oohed as the models walked by, and they danced and bobbed along to a playlist that included a mash-up of samples like Jones’ famous line “Dirty martini, dirty bastard,” the Sex and the City theme, and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

After the show, the models hung out in the crowd and mugged for photos in the hallway while friends—work friends, friend-friends, friends of the designers—hugged and gagged over the collection.

This season has largely been about themes surrounding self-expression and individuality. Some of the best shows yesterday though reminded us that there’s so much collaboration and conversation that happens in fashion, so many brilliant ideas and wild theories hatched over group chats and subway rides and wine-fueled meals. It’s the power of peer to peer, of Substack threads and references passed back and forth via Instagram DM.

Owens said it best: “Everybody talks about individuality being so important—maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s a moment to think about solidarity.” Solidarity, community, kiki-ing, fanning-out, whatever you want to call it, yesterday in Paris reminded us that there’s power in the whole of fashion. Come together, indeed.

Backstage at Paris Fashion Week RTW Spring/Summer 2025

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