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Olympics preparation is in full flow in Paris, which means plenty of disruption across the city and few Parisians exempt from the impact. The windows of my Montmartre apartment are currently covered with scaffolding as the building facade is renovated ahead of 3 August, when the road cyclists take on the challenge of the cobbled climb of Butte Montmartre. National Assembly elections are also scheduled over two rounds on 30 June and 7 July, adding to the chaos.
The fashion industry is forced to work around the build-up to the games. Paris men’s Spring/Summer 2025 fashion week is scheduled for 18 to 23 June, while the haute couture AW24 shows follow directly afterwards from 24 to 27 June. The Paris Summer Olympics opens just a month later, running from 26 July to 11 August. “It gets more complicated the closer we get to the opening of the games,” says PR guru Lucien Pagès. “It’s one of the most challenging fashion weeks in a long time between the Olympics-related disruptions, the political climate and the rainy weather.”
Pagès ponders whether fashion week visitors will be best advised to stick to room service, harkening back to the pandemic days. Also reminiscent of the pandemic is the return of QR codes for pedestrians, bikes and cars expecting to enter a so-called grey zone along the Seine, where the opening ceremony will be held. Codes will be requested from 18 to 26 July.
The Lanvin boutique on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is located in the so-called red zone, where cars will be prohibited. “We are focusing on distance selling and not counting on the usual rhythm of traffic, as if we were returning to a period when the city was under lockdown,” says Siddhartha Shukla, deputy CEO of Lanvin.
Don’t expect the weather to make life easier. Average rainfall this June has already been exceptionally high. Rising designer Jeanne Friot is staging her show on the rooftop of Duperré School of Applied Arts in Le Marais. “Umbrellas may be a necessity,” she suggests. Friot is less fazed by the impact of the Olympics. “I don’t want to jinx it but it was much smoother than we expected, apart from filing papers for the show at the police préfécture. I wasn’t sure about staging a show before the Olympics, I wondered if buyers and editors would come to Paris — and it turns out that a number of Japanese and Korean buyers aren’t coming — but I thought it was more important than ever to show, given the economic climate. A number of young fashion labels have shut down in recent months. This is worrying.”
Meanwhile, the French political situation is complex, with a turn to the far right anticipated in the forthcoming elections. At a demonstration scheduled for 22 June, many are expected to protest against the rise of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party. Tens of thousands have already demonstrated across the country.
Getting around Paris
How to navigate Paris this season? Just this once, well-heeled editors and buyers will probably take the metro en masse. The best bet is investing in sneakers and a Navigo pass for public transport (it’s €30.75 for a week’s worth of rides). Avoid the Concorde and Tuileries metro stations though; they’re closed even for changing between lines. Cars provided by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), French fashion’s governing body, will be equipped with a Navigo pass for those stuck in traffic and looking to switch to the metro.
Vogue Business’s Luke Leitch, a frequenter of the Paris shows, favours Lime, the rental e-bike service. But he will find it hard to bike from the Left Bank to the Right Bank this season, because the Place de la Concorde, Pont Alexandre III and Esplanade des Invalides will all be closed. (Couture visitors should note that Schiaparelli has shifted for AW24 from Petit Palais to Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild — and Chanel is not returning to the Grand Palais just yet.)
Another option for navigating the city is the official Paris Fashion Week shuttles. The FHCM is adding an extra four shuttles to the usual two that ferry buyers and press between shows and presentations. They are free to access — and no Paris show is permitted to commence before the buses arrive. Sounds more reliable than a €50 taxi ride that’s stuck in a traffic jam.
Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, winner of the prestigious 2023 Andam Prize, is staging his show in the courtyard of the Monnaie de Paris. In a sports-obsessed summer, he will unveil a sneakers collaboration with an activewear brand. Expect plenty of nods to sports this season. And there’s also Vogue World on 23 June, staged on Place Vendôme, which will celebrate French fashion, sports and the city of Paris itself. The view from the Ritz should be good.
Meanwhile, Hôtel de Crillon on Place de la Concorde opens an exhibition showcasing skateboards by various artists on 18 June. It’s curated by Sarah Andelman, staged by Aline Asmar d’Amman and in partnership with The Skateroom, a platform sponsoring skate NGOs. Place de la Concorde will play host to a skatepark during the Olympics (as well as BMX freestyle, 3x3 basketball and breaking, an urban sport making its debut at the Paris games).
The Federation has been hard at work streamlining routes between fashion shows, seeking to avoid Olympics-related venues, such as the Eiffel Tower (beach volleyball), the Grand Palais (fencing) and the Trocadéro (the location for the Champions Park where athletes will celebrate post-performance — and have their makeup applied courtesy of LVMH-owned Sephora).
If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the rehearsals for the opening ceremony on the Seine. “We’ll be rehearsing in situ, but in a fragmented way. In other words, even if you’re walking along the Seine, you can’t understand it,” Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, told me during a conversation in the Unesco Japanese garden. “It’s a bit like magicians, when they have to put on their show, all the technical teams are divided — no one is able to understand but the trick works.”
Jolly is bringing fashion talents to the ceremonies. “In many ceremonies, [one] designer is chosen for all the costumes,” he says. “I preferred the mosaic [approach] because we have so much talent in this country, so many creators in all fields who are dazzling. As artistic director, I chose to develop the concept and collaborations with artists from the worlds of dance, circus, music, design, fashion and image.”
Meanwhile, I’ll be serving champagne in my Montmartre home on 3 August when the cyclists pass by my window — Vogue Business readers welcome.
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