Paris Fashion Week SS27: A Sizzling, Manifesto-Driven Season Redefines the Runway

Congratulations. You’ve made it. You’ve completed the final pitstop of the SS27 season, and Paris Fashion Week has been one hell of a ride. From high-octane political statements on the Place de la République to gold-drenched masterpieces and literary interventions, the French capital served as the ultimate canvas for global design talent. Matières Fécales grabbed our attention with its provocative celebration of The Ninety Nine Percent, turning a public square into a manifesto-driven runway show that challenged contemporary socioeconomic structures.

Elsewhere, Anthony Vaccarello delivered a gold-drenched masterpiece at Saint Laurent, while Alessandro Michele tackled the ongoing literary crisis, inviting Valentino guests to donate books to Paris’s Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Meanwhile, Drew Henry made a colourful and talked-about debut at Courrèges. Across the board, at major houses like Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Issey Miyake, and Hermès, designers seemed to embrace fabrics with light and airy qualities, a deliberate and necessary response to this summer’s extreme heatwave that gripped the continent.

While the official calendar offered a dizzying array of spectacles, the broader cultural resonance of the collections revealed a deeper narrative about how fashion responds to the world around it. From environmental pressures and architectural lightness to historical escapism and childhood nostalgia, SS27 will be remembered as a season where practicality met profound theatricality.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

Duran Lantink has reached his first official birthday at Jean Paul Gaultier. The Dutch designer was part of that celebrated SS26 cohort of new creative directors, and his first provocative collection offended as much as it titillated the traditionalist guard. After a full year embedded in the job, the overdramatic initial reactions have calmed down considerably, but the designer’s radical approach to his work remains as thrilling and unpredictable as ever.

"With now a full-circle calendar of shows under his belt, Lantink presses his team to retain a sense of curiosity and naivety," read this season’s official show notes, summarizing the house’s current trajectory. "His ethos in seven words? ‘Always look for something that excites you’."

With pop culture heavyweights like Shygirl, SZA, and Jean Paul Gaultier himself sitting front row, models emerged in a striking white coat featuring comically broad shoulders, a hulking black leather jacket, and a brown leather vest whose shoulder pads had slipped around to the front to resemble an oddly angular, sculptural bust. Elsewhere, Lantink worked in graphic lines that dipped and scooped in unexpected directions. Typically demure nightgowns featured giant keyhole necklines that plunged deeply to expose conical leather bras. The rigid fabric of a spotted monokini curved dramatically off its model’s body, while trench coats were constructed with their own protruding breast cups, continuing the designer’s signature exploration of anatomical surrealism.

TELFAR

For SS27, Telfar Clemens surprised the global fashion industry by announcing he would show his famously very New York namesake label in Paris instead of his home turf. Clemens hadn’t debuted a collection in Europe for seven years, not since his Paris Fashion Week SS20 presentation back in September 2019. Because of this prolonged absence, the international fashion community was eagerly anticipating his European arrival, but as is always the case with Telfar Clemens, things are rarely as straightforward as they seem on the surface.

Guests arriving at the Paris venue were greeted by French DJ Crystallmess, who opened the presentation wearing a hooded, snow leopard mini dress paired with matching opaque tights. But before another look could hit the runway, the curtains on the main stage abruptly drew back to reveal a giant screen. The real show began livestreaming directly from New York City. Clemens had successfully trolled the Paris fashion elite, transforming his much-hyped PFW comeback into one grand, brilliant joke. Yet one thing that certainly wasn’t a joke was the clothing: a lineup of seriously sexy pieces ranging from slinky eveningwear to slouchy streetwear, all infused with the distinct New York nightlife edge that Clemens executes so masterfully.

GANNI

What would you wear if you never had to grow up? For Ditte Reffstrup, the creative force behind Ganni, the answer is deeply rooted in uninhibited play. Long before we develop a codified personal style, clothing serves as an experimental playground. It is about trying on your older sibling’s oversized jumpers or teetering around the house in a pair of your mother’s oversized kitten heels. There is an unabashed freedom in getting dressed when you are simply too young to care what anyone else might think.

At this season’s Ganni presentation, Reffstrup interpreted this chaotic, beautiful process through shrunken knits and gargantuan sweaters, successfully recreating that authentic childhood feeling of wearing clothes that you have either already outgrown or that you are desperately waiting to grow into later. Denim jeans were slashed, ripped, and then patched back together haphazardly. Midi skirts ballooned into voluminous bloomers tied together to create dramatic, bouncing ruffles. Colours darted across the spectrum from fresh lilacs and mint greens to blinding neon yellows and fire engine reds, looking as though an entire crayon factory had exploded over the workshop.

This playful naivety also emerged via oversized floppy hats, candy-coloured micro bags, and a cropped baseball T-shirt that cheekily demanded "Ask My Mum" in a bright red font. "There’s a freedom and joy that reminds me why I fell in love with dressing up," Reffstrup reflected via the show notes. "It feels like coming home."

BALMAIN

The haunting strains of The Doors’ "Riders on the Storm" rumbled through the venue as rain beat down on the pavements outside, setting a moody, cinematic tone for Antonin Tron’s glamorous trip back in time to 1970s California. This era served as the ultimate cultural playground for icons like Jim Morrison, Joan Didion, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Michel Foucault.

The garments were characterised by exceptional fluidity and ease, presenting a rock-idol loucheness rendered in draped jersey, skinny leather trousers, and lashings of leopard print. Iridescent coppers, golds, oranges, and pale yellows glimmered under the lights like a fading Los Angeles sunset. Meanwhile, wet-look hair and skin-hugging fabrics gave the distinct impression that the models were staggering home from one of Didion’s famed literary parties just as dawn was breaking over the coast. It was California dreamin’ for days.

TOM FORD

We all know what happened to Narcissus when he fell hopelessly in love with his reflection, but at Tom Ford this season, the models didn’t just gaze into the mirror—they practically made love to it. Glass mirrors lined the perimeter of the runway as models slinked past in tailored pinstripe suits worn with very little underneath, or full ensembles crafted entirely from fetishistic black leather.

This presentation served as a masterclass in fantasy, drawing directly from the classic, unyielding codes of luxury seduction: crimson lips, matching red nails, and razor-sharp stilettos. Haider Ackermann took Ford’s historically rich sensuality and turned it up to the maximum, sending out fishnet shirts, sheer midi skirts, and intricate bra tops that left very little to the imagination. If there was ever any lingering question regarding the explicit inspiration behind the collection, the soundtrack—filled with heavy breathing and sensual audio cues—quickly put those doubts to rest. Literally.

ISSEY MIYAKE

It all started with a single piece of lightweight fabric wafting weightlessly through the air. Designer Satoshi Kondo wanted to observe firsthand how it reacted and felt against the skin before his team even began the garment-making process. He wanted to explore the airy, breathing spaces that exist between fabric and the human body. This sense of weightless ease floated effortlessly through Issey Miyake’s SS27 collection, featuring billowing crinkled silks and ballooning trench coats that trailed dynamically behind the models as they walked. Each of these breezy ensembles created a voluminous, cloud-like effect, giving the impression that the garments themselves were living, breathing entities.

Taking place at Paris’s historic Judo Institute, the show opened with 11 contemporary dancers contorting a massive, billowing blue fabric that rolled across the floor like an ocean wave. As the textile wave finally parted, the first model stepped through in a bright, cornflower blue bodice that looked as though a Plaster of Paris mold had been directly fused to her skin. More sculptural bodices followed in stark black and butter-yellow, providing a grounding contrast to the free-floating fabrics that immediately succeeded them—fluttering trousers, artful architectural draping, and silk scarves spilling out from sharply cut suits. It was a pure celebration of movement, ease, and the dynamic art of being alive.

GIVENCHY

Sarah Burton wants to cut straight through the noise. In her fourth womenswear collection for Givenchy, her vision is refreshingly free of caricatured femininity, offering instead a practical, no-nonsense wardrobe tailored for the modern woman who is equally likely to be found commanding a corporate boardroom as she is unwinding at a bar.

The opening look immediately expressed this versatility: a black leather shift dress with a clever twist. Zips running up the sides were deliberately left open to reveal flashes of bright yellow fabric beneath. These subtle biker motifs echoed throughout the presentation, with the collection’s most daring and racy moments appearing in the form of leather-zipped micro-shorts, zippered knee-high boots, and a traditional biker jacket ingeniously reimagined as a sleek bodysuit.

The historically divisive peplum made a surprising return via jewel-toned satin blazers paired with straight-leg denim, embodying a look ripped straight out of the millennial "jeans-and-a-nice-top" playbook. Elsewhere, ribbed cotton vest tops were styled with washed blue denim, and power suits arrived featuring razor-sharp shoulders and asymmetric fastenings. But Burton saved her finest moment for the grand finale: an evening gown heavily embellished with tapestry-like beadwork that evoked an Impressionist painting, shimmering and swirling like moving brushstrokes whenever it caught the light. For all the practical, highly wearable elements grounded in this collection, Burton always ensures there is ample room for a touch of pure fantasy.

MARGARET HOWELL

Autumn’s first crisp breeze evokes a familiar cascade of cultural touchstones—a brand-new school year, comforting rewatches of Gilmore Girls, and the quiet anticipation of planning a Halloween costume. For those genuinely devoted to fashion, every autumn is greeted with a collective sigh of relief, marking the welcome return of the season when genuine layering and dressing become possible once again.

Margaret Howell understands precisely what it means to truly dress. Her design ethos is firmly rooted in clarity—well-made, timeless pieces meticulously crafted from natural fibres. This season, she constructed an archetypal autumnal wardrobe drawn directly from the classic codes of traditional British dressing. Soft, unstructured tailoring, breezy cotton separates, and knee-length pleated skirts felt heavily infused with an understated autumn academia aesthetic.

The colour palette remained largely neutral, though vibrant flashes of red emerged via a polo shirt peeking out from underneath a tailored blazer or a wool jumper casually draped over the shoulders. These academic staples were subtly underscored by a literary, vagabond mood conveyed through lopsided bucket hats and lived-in, comfortably undone suiting. With durability positioned at the very heart of the design philosophy, Howell delivered a functional uniform built to last for many semesters to come.

HERMÈS

According to Duolingo’s recent, highly publicized intervention in the SS27 social media discourse, Hermès is officially pronounced "air-mess." While the viral green language app didn’t formally collaborate with the historic French luxury house, creative director Nadège Vanhée has similarly had air on her mind. This particular summer in Paris was defined by a desperate search for stray breezes—anything to offer even a brief respite from the oppressive, stifling heat.

At Hermès, this necessary breeziness was rendered through gauzy, highly breathable knit dresses and modular zippers capable of transforming a single garment from spring adaptability to summer relief. The first half of the collection explored a restrained palette of pale colours designed to reflect the harsh sun rather than absorb its rays—bluish whites, creamy ivories, and soft beiges—while the second half injected flashes of vibrant primary colours in brilliant sunshine yellow and fiery orange-red. A classic silk scarf was cleverly re-engineered into a halter top, while bandeau tops featured extreme, structural cutouts. It was an exercise in intelligent, thoughtful dressing, proving once and for all that functionality does not require heavy fabrics or uninspired design.

LACOSTE

In professional tennis, clay is widely considered the most physically demanding surface. It slows the momentum of the game down, rendering it far more tactical, shifting the dynamic from a game of raw power to something resembling high-stakes chess. For Lacoste’s SS27 collection, technical precision was concentrated entirely in the minute details. Tennis balls were ingeniously embedded within the heels of mesh trainers, providing extra physical suspension and bounce. Meanwhile, the numerical sequence 217 appeared as a recurring motif throughout the lineup, directly inspired by the blistering 217 km/h serve speed achieved by Novak Djokovic in Athens back in November 2025.

Designer Pelagia Kolotouros served up all the refined elegance and gritty determination of the sport, successfully weaving movement and endurance directly into the final garments. White trainers and clothing hems were purposefully smudged with authentic clay. Crinkled, wet-look white polo shirts transformed the physical reality of sweat into a badge of athletic pride.

Kolotouros sought to loosen rigid preppy standards by softening structured silhouettes and unveiling imperfect, washed silks. Cotton T-shirts appeared purposefully crumpled, while tailored suits were cut loose and casually belted. The core colour palette centered around rich red-clay and deep forest-green, punctuated by sharp flashes of tennis-ball yellow and wet-look cobalt blue that cut through the collection like a 217 km/h ace. Match, set, point.