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There’s only one major debut in Paris this season (Alessandro Michele at Valentino) but three sophomore shows: from Chemena Kamali at Chloé, Seán McGirr at Alexander McQueen and Pelagia Kolotouros at Lacoste. They are no less important.
Fashion impatiently awaits a debut. But they should actually get more excited about a second show, says fashion consultant Jean-Jacques Picart. “The second show is usually richer and if it’s strong, everyone forgets the first. The first show is the one that puts the most pressure on the creative director but the second and the third shows are more important for the company.”
“The curtain has been pulled back so the surprise factor has already been played. We understand the creative direction and so the question is what’s next?” says Richard Johnson, chief commercial and sustainability officer at Mytheresa.
A debut is like the pilot in a TV series, says Benjamin Simmenauer, professor at Institut Français de la Mode: “It’s an intention. With the second, you drive the point home.”
Kolotouros, who was appointed creative design director at Lacoste in 2023, has a similar metaphor: “I look at collections as chapters in books or as a film. You approach each collection like writing a novel. So you always start with the beginnings and slowly start moving further and further into somebody’s journey. You’re crafting the character.”
Julie Gilhart, previously longtime fashion director at Barneys, who recently relaunched her consultancy Gilhart Co, remembers Rick Owens’s first show at New York Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2002. “It was not a big bang. A first show is not necessarily career defining if it’s not a big bang. Basically you can see where there’s talent. It’s a gut feeling. In Rick’s case, he challenges himself in a way that each show always seems to be the best show he has ever done.”
A second show has more firepower commercially, according to Simmenauer. “Typically between the first and second show, the brand — merchandising, website, image — aligns itself with the vision of the new creative director,” he says. “So the second show is part of a global brand experience. It has more impact because everything is consistent.”
For example, Kolotouros has been able to connect the runway collection and the main collection. “In the stores right now, you’ll see the René blazer, which we introduced in the fall fashion show, and in the Vogue World event. Then you’ll see a version of it in the main collection that’s geared towards a wider mass audience,” says Kolotouros. “Pleats are something that started with the fashion show and again, you’ll see how that lives in the main collection. That’s really the beauty of working on two collections at the same time, that you’re able to link them.”
High stakes
Sophomore shows are high stakes, perhaps now more than ever. Today, creative directors are often given just a few seasons to prove commercial success, even when the odds are stacked against them.
Those with successful debuts have a stronger start on which to build. The bar is set high for Kamali’s second outing, after her first was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Rickie De Sole, women’s fashion director at Nordstrom praised Kamali’s “feminine flair” and “her celebratory finale”. It was followed by a pre-collection and a very “Chloé summer”: Kamala Harris wore Chloé at the Democratic National Convention, and the brand was spotted on a slew of celebrities. The AW24 debut collection hit stores this summer. “Her ready-to-wear customers are responding positively. It feels modern but with heritage,” says Johnson.
“It was a fun season,” Kamali told Vogue Runway and Vogue Business’s Nicole Phelps during a preview of her Spring/Summer 2025 show. “We had a good energy, because you felt how the first show was resonating and it gives you a lot of happiness, because you then just want to give everyone more, you know? And we’re exploring other ideas, other sides of Chloé.”
Kolotouros succeeded Louise Trotter at Lacoste, and for her first act returned the French label to the Paris Fashion Week schedule after more than two years. Her debut show in March gave a nice play to its heritage: Roland Garros stadium as the venue, pleats, cropped knit V-neck cricket sweaters and dresses. “Kolotouros’s first-season set seemed a promising warmer-upper,” wrote Vogue Runway and Vogue Business’s Luke Leitch.
So what to expect this season? “It’s pretty similar to the way I approached the first show. I really start with the archives and focus a lot on [founder] René [Lacoste],” Kolotouros says. “I go back to the archives because that’s where I feel very centred. The centre point for the collection was the personal life of René. We wanted to celebrate who he was, not just as a tennis player but as a person. The show will really centre around René who was not just an athlete and not just an icon in France’s history, but also as a family man.”
The pressure is arguably higher for McGirr: he succeeded Sarah Burton, who left Alexander McQueen last September after 26 years at the brand, 13 as creative director — during which she won plaudits for balancing the brand’s couture ethos with a strong ready-to-wear offer. He has “big shoes to fill”, as Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower put it. His debut collection for Alexander McQueen, with its exaggerated neck knits, shearling jacket and jet-beaded pantsuits, was met with mixed reviews, straying far from Burton’s work, shooting for a younger audience with a less tailored silhouette.
There’s a lot riding on this next show. “Who is the McQueen woman going to be under the new direction, are we digging in the archives or is there a new vision for the future that will take the house forward into new territories?” Johnson asks.
“The first collection was about exploring and interpreting the codes of McQueen — with much more explicit references. This one feels like an evolution with a focus on signature silhouettes, tailoring and craft. I wanted to look at the distinctive house codes through a contemporary lens — to explore how the McQueen energy translates now," McGirr tells Vogue Business over email.
McGirr only started on 1 December — two months before the show. “Honestly, the first collection was a sprint,” he says. “We had two months to work on it, and McQueen is a house with such a huge legacy that you want time to really immerse yourself in it. I’ve had six months to do that now, connecting with the depth and nuances of the McQueen world and with my incredible team.”
This additional time is important, says Picart, but also raises expectations. “The press is more lenient for the first [show]. It’s just a draft; the designer often runs out of time. For the second, the creative director has the same time as the rest of the industry.”
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