Spectacle and Sustainability Open Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Week kicked off on Sept. 29 with Spring/Summer 2026 shows staged across the city, from open-air spectacles at Hôtel de Ville to presentations inside the Louvre and Centre Pompidou. At Centre Pompidou, Helen Mirren opened Stella McCartney’s show, which emphasized activism and sustainability — billed as 98% sustainable and 100% cruelty-free — and introduced innovations such as FEVVERS (a plant‑based feather alternative) and PURE.TECH, a pollutant‑absorbing fabric. L’Oréal’s Le Défilé, themed “Because You’re Worth It,” was a celebrity-packed, empowerment-focused show at Hôtel de Ville streamed on social platforms and featured veterans like Jane Fonda, Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson, closing with Kendall Jenner in a sheer white La Perla gown paired with transparent Gianvito Rossi mules. At the Louvre, Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton staged a time‑hopping, apartment‑styled set highlighting corsetry, turbans and couture surfaces, with a starry front row that included Emma Stone, Zendaya and Jennifer Connelly. Critics praised Ghesquière’s craft but said the storytelling felt episodic, and opening nights underscored social‑media reach, front‑row casting and theatrical staging as much as the clothes.