Zendaya, Emma Stone, and a Star-Studded Front Row Close Out Paris Fashion Week at Louis Vuitton’s SS27 Show

In the fast-moving and often ephemeral world of high fashion, elaborate custom looks are frequently worn just once and then unceremoniously discarded, with stars and stylists racing on to the next designer piece on the rail. Except, of course, when the star in question is Zendaya. On the final evening of Paris Fashion Week, as the acclaimed American actor made her way toward the historic Louvre, crossing the grand cobblestones of the Cour Carrée to attend Louis Vuitton’s much-anticipated Spring/Summer 2027 show, she cut a remarkably familiar, lily-white figure.

Just this past summer, Zendaya had tapped Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière to design a breathtaking custom ensemble for her press tour for The Odyssey: an intricate white lace dress paired with a voluminous, matching bolero jacket featuring dramatic folded lapels reminiscent of an Elizabethan ruff. Returning to the French capital for the label’s latest runway presentation, Zendaya brilliantly demonstrated sartorial resourcefulness. Rather than shelving the statement outerwear piece, she swapped out the original dress for a casual, classic combination of blue jeans and a white vest, layering the ensemble with Ghesquièr’s striking lace bolero. It was a masterclass in high-low styling that immediately turned heads among photographers and fashion editors alike.

As is customary for Louis Vuitton’s star-studded presentations, Zendaya was far from the only major celebrity in attendance. She was joined by an illustrious lineup of house ambassadors, including Academy Award winner Emma Stone, who opted for a sleek and simple look comprising a cobalt blue blazer and matching shorts. Fellow ambassador Saoirse Ronan also commanded attention in the front row, rocking blunt baby bangs alongside vibrant, color-blocked knitwear, while K-pop superstar Lisa added a touch of playful glamour in a textured frou-frou top paired with a sharp leather mini skirt.

The glittering guest list extended well beyond the brand’s traditional roster of ambassadors. Adults star Owen Thiele made his official Louis Vuitton front-row debut, while acclaimed actress Wunmi Mosaku, fresh off her work in Sinners, cut an elegant figure draped in a sophisticated camel cape. Fellow actors Sophie Turner and Sophie Thatcher served as quintessential Ghesquière muses, embodying the designer’s modern aesthetic, while legendary French screen icon Catherine Deneuve added a timeless touch of classic French cinema and elegance to the proceedings.

Rounding out the front row were Yoonchae Jeung and Daniela Avanzini of the rising global pop group Katseye, who were likewise making their highly anticipated Louis Vuitton debuts. Following weekend appearances by bandmates Lara Raj and Megan Skiendiel—the group’s other two members, who were spotted sitting front row at Loewe—it appeared that the members of Katseye had adopted a deliberate divide-and-conquer strategy to cover the major highlights of the Paris Fashion Week calendar.

On the runway itself, Nicolas Ghesquière approached the SS27 collection with considerably gentler brushstrokes than he had in previous seasons. While his immediately preceding ready-to-wear collections leaned heavily into the raw, untamed roughness of the natural world, featuring hulking silhouettes and craggy, earth-toned textures, this season’s runway opened with a series of light, gossamer garments. Ethereal dresses, skirts, and lightweight shirts fluttered gently in the crisp Parisian breeze, establishing an immediate sense of fluid motion.

According to official show notes distributed to attendees immediately following the presentation, this shift was deliberate. "The ergonomic. A notion of design fundamentally shaped by the conditions, capabilities and movement of the human body is the foundational principle," the notes explained, highlighting a collection deeply rooted in human comfort and dynamic physical expression.

True to his reputation as a visionary designer perpetually fascinated by the aesthetics of tomorrow, Ghesquière ensured the collection was populated by subtle, sophisticated nods to futurism. Space-age suits and highly reflective shades appeared alongside striking shift dresses inlaid with shimmering silver lamé foil. Elaborately ruffled, tentacle-like accents on coats hinted intriguingly at the possibility of life beyond Earth, while pieces constructed from layered diamond fabrics and complemented by beaded fringe headpieces gestured toward a refined retrofuturism.

As Ghesquière’s forward-looking garments drifted across the historic Cour Carrée, the setting for the show was thrown into sharper, more surreal relief. The runway constructed for the models to walk across had been meticulously designed to resemble a modern highway. Above and alongside it, the geometric, angular shapes of Damier Check hovercars—suspended at varying heights on sleek metal stilts—were dotted throughout the space, creating an immersive environment that blended historical architecture with speculative design.

Describing the conceptual vision behind the presentation, the fashion house noted that Louis Vuitton imagined a surreal runway punctuated by suspended concept cars as an intentional invitation to consider travel beyond the paths already taken. At the intersection of classical architecture and an imagined future, the immersive set offered a striking and surreal evocation of Louis Vuitton’s enduring philosophy of the Art of Travel, bringing a memorable close to another monumental season in Paris.