Lights! Camera! Action! Chanel Puts Fun Back On The Catwalk

For his first physical show for Givenchy, Matthew M. Williams was inspired by the work of two artists: Josh Smith, whose vivid work appeared across the collection, and Young Thug, who created the entire score for the show. The collection was a futuristic look at the archive of Hubert de Givenchy, with fantastical layering and sculpting that provided the viewer with many a look-twice moment.

At Lanvin, Bruno Sialelli wanted to salute the house's identity. 'Jeanne Lanvin empowered women with her clothes, dressing them in a manner that combined dynamism with romance, reflecting different sides of a woman's psyche. Today, there is also playful sexiness, a youthful esprit,' read the show notes - and indeed there was, from the daisy-print dress to the bralette worn underneath a particularly sharp two-piece suit.

It's official: Demna Gvasalia stole Paris Fashion Week. For Balenciaga SS22, Gvasalia decided to give the people what they wanted, a specially-commissioned episode of The Simpsons, which was presented to show-goers, cinema-style, in lieu of an actual catwalk (the collection's 'looks' were shown on the red carpet as guests and celebrities arrived to take their seats). Homer Simpson in shades and a scarlet puffer jacket? Marge in a bow-backed dress that cinched her waist and ballooned into a ball gown skirt? It was pure fashion fantasy and, more importantly, fun.

A healthy dose of '90s nostalgia was felt at Hermès, where the collection included the most desirable leather trouser suit imaginable (a must for tailoring minimalists next spring) and a new bag that, with its gold handle and barrel shape, is sure to be a runaway hit.

Valentino Rendez-Vous was inspired by how women wear clothes on the street and in their day-to-day lives. To Pierpaolo Piccioli, that translated to lots of easy-breezy shirting, paired with everything from stretch-waist shorts to wide-leg jeans, floor-swishing coats, sequins on sporty silhouettes and a jewel-bright colour palette.

'So good it's rude,' was how one fashion director summed up Loewe, which was inspired by the 'hysterical world' of painter Pontormo. This was other-dimensional wardrobing, with trench coats that were twisted around and given gold corsets, sequinned slip dresses that had practical leg holes on one side and caped gowns that revealed sculpted breastplates. Why settle for anything less than this extraordinary approach to dressing?

'Flashes of a future romance, in a world full of noises,' read the show notes. Raf Simons presented a slightly more muted collection than usual, concentrating on hero pieces like the single-breasted coat, the black blazer and the shirt, in the latter's case, enlarging it to swimmingly-big proportions that did, indeed, cut through the noise.

For her second collection as creative director of Chloé, Gabriela Hearst made even more in-roads with her raison d'être as a designer: sustainability. Launching Chloé Craft - a selection of products that will be made by hand not by machine and marked with a special spiral - the percentage of lower-impact materials used in ready-to-wear was also 58% (up from 40% in AW21). The clothes themselves - made from deadstock fabrics, vegetable-dyed leather, cashmere, and adorned with found seashells and naturally-sourced gemstones - had a brilliant sense of movement as they swished past show-goers. (The shoes, flat sandals with lace-up ties and a slight platform sole, were the result of a collaboration with Ocean Sole, a social enterprise that upcycles flip-flops that have been salvaged from beaches and waterways in Kenya.)

Rick Owens and his theatrical, reality-defying approach to things like height, length and silhouette made his rejoining of the world of physical catwalk shows, after several seasons of steaming, a rather awe-inspiring experience outside the Palais de Tokyo.

Coperni (and its super sexy stylings) certainly know how to please a crowd. The collection's hero piece was the long-sleeved crop top in blood orange and highlighter green which, paired with a spangled maxi skirt or black utility trousers, has got to be the cleverest way to show skin in 2021.

Set to the sound of a specially recorded message from Beyoncé, Olivier Rousteing celebrated his 10th birthday (as creative director of Balmain) with a collection of his greatest hits from the past decade, modelled by his supermodel army, naturellement. Carla Bruni wore a high-necked beaded minidress that looked very like the one that Kim Kardashian, a huge fan of Rousteing's, sported on her hen night. The message? Glam this good will never go out of style.

Acne Studios featured, 'the clash of handcrafted historical pieces with a hyper futuristic attitude', with the gorgeous interplay of leather, corsetry, knitwear and chiffon on yesterday's catwalk. We particularly loved the body-grazing dresses cinched with waist-trainers and also - newsflash from the Noughties! - the return of the pedal pusher (remember those?) which, rendered in turquoise, will prove tempting next spring.

Thebe Magugu's starting point for his latest collection, entitled Genealogy, was the idea of memory, specially a box of old family photographs. 'This season, I wanted to disengage with mounting pressures of having to create work that considers and reflects the times and to create a personal body of work that - even if niche - looks inwards at the part of my life that always gets me through: my family,' explained Magugu, who invited his mother, Iris, and aunt, Esther, to be part of the proceedings. Not only did they join him for a roundtable discussion, but their style - Iris' leg-of-mutton sleeves from the '60s; Esther's punk experimentation in the '80s - gave the collection its sense of history and heritage.

The Eighties made its presence felt at Saint Laurent, where blazers were given means-business shoulder pads, clip-on (and crystal-embellished) earrings almost grazed the collarbone and jewel-toned colours were given a new lease of life on form-caressing catsuits. The setting - under the iconic arches of the Eiffel Tower - was made even more magical with a choreographed spell of showers for the finale. Magnifique.

Maria Grazia Chiuri is famously good at creating elaborate (and, equally, thought-provoking) sets for her audience - and this season was no exception. The models were arranged on a giant boardgame, all the colours of the rainbow and designed by artist Anna Paparatti, that reflected the spirit of both her work and the clothes. Chiuri was inspired by the '60s, and the tenure of her creative predecessor, Marc Bohan. Cue high hemlines (seen on everything from miniskirt suits to graphic coats in highlighter-bright hues) that reflected the era's economic prosperity and swinging spirit that was delivered via patent knee-highs and bedazzled bags.

Marine Serre's latest collection - composed of 45% recycled and 45% regenerated materials - is her most sustainable yet, and was a meditation, after a period of reflection, on the opportunity we have to think more carefully about what we put in, and on, our bodies. 'I want people to feel the beauty and the simplicity of being together and finding joy in cooking, eating, dancing, yoga. And at the same time recognise that everyday we make choices that have an impact, so how can we be more responsible in the decisions we make? Fashion is about more than draping fabric and making a profit, it can be a place where we are free to take meaningful action,' said Serre.

Kenneth Ize, the designer who is a champion of local craftsmanship and the communities of weavers, artisans and design groups across Nigeria, dedicated his collection to, 'all women of all walks of life'. As well as his exuberant take on the three-piece suit - our favourite of all the tailoring we've seen this fashion month - we were particularly fond of the finale dress, a calico-coloured column adorned with gold brooches. (And the shoes; all flat and all made with his signature hand-woven cloth.) 'A New Dawn. Pan Africanism in phrases. An experience only can be experienced in a sound and a walk of living,' Ize posted on Instagram.