Cutting a dash at Paris Fashion Week

January saw Paris Fashion Week take the world (well, the internet) by storm with a showcase of the latest and boldest styles, trends, and designs. And, with very loose blog requirements here at Pic, I was keen to seize the opportunity and talk about some of the best (Kathryn often does this too).

PFW was the place to be for celebrities this year, with a new iconic look of theirs gracing our phone screens every day. Celebrity appearances were made by the likes of Naomi Campbell, Timothee Chalamet, and Anne Hathaway, who wore a particularly popular sparkly head-to-toe leopard print moment at the Valentino Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show; all it takes is one quick trip to her Instagram and you can tell how popular the look was, with one user gushingly commenting “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before”.

Viktor & Rolf turned the fashion world upside down (quite literally) by debuting a very unique collection of tulle gowns worn in every direction. Models strutted the runway with gravity-defying horizontal and diagonal dresses, one even worn completely upside down, with the body of the dress obscuring the model’s face! Although designs such as these are not exactly wearable for your everyday person, Michelle Visage commented on a reel shared by Prada “You’ll see them on the runway of @rupaulsdragrace THAT’S for sure!”

Another standout collection was by Schiaparelli, who created some buzz with their awe-inspiring looks this Paris Fashion Week. Some notable looks include models strutting their stuff in a giant metal head mask, an explosion of face-obscuring stones and crystals, and dresses with hyper realistic faux taxidermy animal heads attached; a hand painted faux fur coat with the head of a she-wolf attached was worn by none other than Naomi Campbell on the catwalk, of course. 

Not only did Schiaparelli and Viktor & Rolf turn heads on the runway this year, they also dressed celebrities in attendance in some spotlight-stealing looks that got people talking online…

Doja Cat is known for her controversial and bold aesthetics, so we wouldn’t expect anything less at Paris Fashion Week. The singer attended Schiaparelli's Couture Spring-Summer 2023 show in head to toe red body paint and 30,000 Swarovski crystals with the help of makeup artist Pat McGrath. The look was very divisive, some people loved it and some people just couldn't get over the absence of false lashes. This only fueled Doja Cat’s next look, a simple, lashes only look forming eyebrows, a moustache and a goatee, paired with a Viktor & Rolf high collar tailored shirt and a pinstripe coat. If there’s one thing you can rely on Doja Cat for, it’s trolling the internet! 

Doja was rivalled only by Kylie Jenner, who wore a custom black Schiaparelli gown with a full scale faux taxidermy lion head attached to the bust, a look which later debuted on the runway as Kylie Jenner sat in the front row. Controversy is something that follows the Kardashian/Jenners everywhere they go, so it’s to no one's surprise that this look caused quite a stir – with some saying Schiaparelli has taken its fashion too far and is promoting animal hunting. 

If there is one thing we can take away from Paris Fashion Week, it’s that Schiaparelli and Viktor & Rolf certainly know how to break the internet and get people talking about them. They used the best possible marketing tool out there – the power of gen-Z and social media. Although gen-Z are definitely not the target market for either of these designer houses, by playing to using celebrities that gen-Z are interested in, they have guaranteed themselves time on the Twitter trending page, and therefore have generated interest in their looks. 

If you’d like to talk more about social media marketing and PR, please do get in touch, we’d love to chat about how we can help you out.