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It’s a big season for Alain Paul. This Tuesday, the 36-year-old French designer is showing his eponymous brand Alainpaul for the second time on the official Paris Fashion Week show schedule. On Wednesday, he will present his work at the LVMH Prize showroom as one of this year’s 20 semi-finalists.
Paul and his husband and business partner Luis Philippe work out of a cave-like studio on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. “Welcome to our parking space,” Philippe jokes when I arrive, a few days ahead of the show. The couple’s dog Izzy is at his feet, and the space is crammed with racks of clothing. All hands are on deck before the show.
I spy a sophisticated red nylon dress, a hand-knitted style made from flesh-coloured upcycled tights and fresh variations of the label’s Pina boots (inspired by ballet dancers’ pointe shoes, and named after late dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch). All will be part of the Autumn/Winter 2025 show, taking place in Théâtre du Châtelet (where Paul showed off-schedule for SS24 and AW24, and on-schedule for SS25) and produced by the couple’s friend Daniel Hettmann of events production company Experiential H, who also produced the first few Vetements shows.
The LVMH Prize has announced its 2025 semi-finalists, including All-In, Torisheju, Josh Tafoya and more.
“Showing on-schedule has given us more credibility and visibility. It gives validation,” says Paul. “We are really honoured to be on the official calendar. And we are grateful to be showing on the stage of Théâtre du Châtelet for the fourth time. It’s great to already have a venue that is a home.”
A mood board is full of images of the great choreographers, like Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and Jiří Kylián. The casting, by Dan von der Graf and Andrea Prato, will include a few dancers. Dance is a big part of Paul’s universe. He was born in Hong Kong, from a French father and a Danish-Brazilian mother. In 1997, his parents moved to France and Paul enrolled in the National Ballet of Marseille where he developed an interest in costumes. After injuring himself, he turned to fashion: Paul studied at Istituto Marangoni in Paris and then interned for fashion label Vetements, which had just been formed by the two Gvasalia brothers, Demna and Guram.
He worked at Vetements between 2013 and 2017. During that time, he met Philippe, the manager of concept store Colette, at a party and fell in love. In 2017, their careers took an unexpected turn. “Vetements moves out [to Zurich], Colette shuts down. We went from employees in cool places to unemployed,” Philippe recalls.
Paul messaged Virgil Abloh, who had just been appointed Louis Vuitton Men’s artistic director. The pair had met two years earlier during a small party thrown at the Vetements office for the 2015 LVMH Prize finalists, attended by Abloh. (Both Vetements and Abloh’s Off-White were finalists of the prize that year.) Paul went on to work at Vuitton under Abloh, and when the latter died in 2021, Paul and Philippe decided it was time to throw their hat in the ring and launch their own brand.
They waited until SS24 to present the first collection. “I think it’s important to take the time before launching, because you’re writing a lot of codes for the brand,” Paul explains. Among those codes is the label on the inside of the garment, which is inspired by the elastic of ballet slippers; shoulder pads placed towards the front, highlighting the collarbone; and several pieces that borrow from a dancer’s wardrobe, like the warm-up pants reworked as a suit adorned with a cummerbund.
“I really want to offer another silhouette,” says Paul. “Fashion is about cycles and we’re in a phase now where the proportions are changing. We redefined the silhouette at Vetements [embracing oversized proportions and a study of the shoulder line]. [Now] I work on the silhouette with the dancer’s body in mind. Last season, we had a shrunk denim jacket with oversized arms and retracted shoulders. It’s an approach that may change, that’s what’s interesting. There’s no right or wrong.”
“The attention to the fabrics, the lines, the finishings are impressive,” says Benjamin Simmenauer, professor at Institut Français de la Mode in Paris. “There is a real sensuality, without it being corny at all. It’s graceful and elegant and more and more insiders of the fashion crowd want to wear it.”
Julie Gilhart, former long-time fashion director at Barneys, who now owns consultancy Gilhart Co, agrees: “From his very first show, he [Paul] had energy and momentum. His work with Demna at Vetements and Virgil at Louis Vuitton mixed with his love of contemporary ballet makes for one of the most interesting talents to emerge in recent years.”
In its first season, Alainpaul picked up 20 accounts, including US retailer Bergdorf Goodman, The Broken Arm and Dover Street Market in Paris, Joyce in Hong Kong and Louis in Antwerp. It now has 30. Paul has already dressed a few celebrities, including Madonna for a photoshoot, The Substance director Coralie Fargeat in Cannes and French singer Yseult, alongside a number of professional dancers.
Like other emerging brands, Alainpaul faces a number of challenges — like accessing top-notch suppliers, given it produces in relatively small quantities. This is a priority, however, given the brand’s high-end positioning (a trench coat is priced at €3,690, a tailored fuseau dress at €1,290, the Noureev shorts at €280 and the Pina ankle boot at €1,190). Thankfully, Paul has had long-term relationships with certain suppliers since his Vetements and Louis Vuitton days, who believe in him. For new suppliers, Paul and Philippe go onsite to meet them and explain their project. “It all comes down to the human aspect. We also make sure to be very organised, [so we don’t] put them behind on other orders,” Paul says.
What’s next? Being in the LVMH Prize exactly 10 years after Vetements brings Paul full circle. If Alainpaul wins an LVMH Prize this year, the couple would use the grant (€400,000 for the winner; €200,000 for the Karl Lagerfeld Prize and for the Savoir-Faire) to develop an e-commerce website and launch handbags. Down the road, Paul would also love to stage a show in Hong Kong, where he was born. “Fashion is in a good moment; the end of a cycle. Every period where there is a renewal is always an opportunity,” he sums up.
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