Paris Men’s Fall 2020: When Designers Strike Back! 

Over the Christmas holiday, I made a quick stop in Paris in between my travels from Miami to Nice. To my surprise, the expanding strikes continued to beat on, paralyzing modes of transportation and making it unfeasible to travel around the city. With Paris Men’s Fashion Week approaching fast, my anticipation for the shows only grew exponentially. I continued to question how the strike’s seemingly undying presence—which follows the yellow-jacket protests that were present during shows last year—might affect the shows and take a toll on the overall experience of Fashion Week.  
 But what I imagined to be a time filled with unnerving stress proved to be quite the opposite. Parisian designers, as well as international imports choosing to show their collections in Paris, pushed back against the morose political climate. Instead of succumbing to their surroundings, the shows promised an immense celebration for life through transcendental and interactive presentations where clothes blossomed as wildly and fully as their environments. An air of merriment could be felt unanimously by all those in attendance as designers looked to one of the original purposes of fashion: optimism. 
 Three shows embodied this sentiment fully. Olivier Rousteing summoned an array of interpretive dancers to end the Balmain presentation with an homage to Rousteing’s multicultural identity. Bodies moved with incredible fluidity and beauty, enchanting audiences into a state of hope. At Undercover, Damien Jalet, an elite Belgian choreographer who I recently collaborated with on a video for Madonna’s Madame X tour, put his skills to the test with an interpretive performance. “The Fallen Man” was a hauntingly beautiful dance piece that reflected on inner inhibitions, worked out in three segments with Jun Takahashi’s models circling around the dancers on a stage decorated like a bull’s-eye.

Finally, Issey Miyake fused interpretive choreography, high-level gymnastics, and the smooth hum of saxophones for a presentation that was both joyous and seductive. The performance proved itself effective, as the varying degrees of movement exhibited each garment’s flexibility—something the house is well-known for. Toward the end of the show, the dancers came outward into the audience with small invitations to join them onstage.

Alongside these three moving performances, there are a few designers that can’t go unmentioned. Rhude fused drum and hip-hop beats to create a well-balanced, gritty presentation. LVMH Prize–winner Doublet created a makeshift Japanese restaurant where models acted as if they were dining in, while GmbH took to the opera to have singer Steve Katona provide auditory entertainment to guests. Street-savvy Virgil Abloh opened Fashion Week with a tap-dancing performance at Off-White and continued to bridge the theatrical and fashion worlds by having world-renowned DJs Cybotron and Benji B spin tracks at the Louis Vuitton show.

To close out the celebratory ambiance of the shows in Paris, FKA Twigs graced the audience with an otherworldly performance at Valentino. Dressed in a lace Valentino couture dress, the celestial being used her soft, ethereal voice to cast a captivating haze over showgoers.

So there you have it: an array of designers refusing to let the contrasting political atmosphere affect their collections and shows. From dancers to musicians and acrobats to restaurants, Paris continues to do what it does best: celebrate life and culture through art. The protestors strike on while the designers strike gold.