PARIS (AP) – French singing star Aya Nakamura warbled. Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid rode horses. While Venus and Serena Williams and Katy Perry modeled on the cobbles. This was Paris’ Place Vendome as never seen before.
On International Olympic Day, Vogue World took over the last day of Paris Fashion Week’s menswear collections with a show-cum-spectacle themed around the Olympics.
The rare event blended athleticism, French fashion, and pure, unadulterated razzmatazz from the past century — marking 100 years since the last Games in Paris in 1924.
The event also referred back to June 23, 1894, the day on which the founder of the modern Olympics, French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin, launched the International Olympic Committee.
Vogue World paints the town red (white and blue)
Matching different sports to different eras and styles, the high-octane collection extravaganza felt like a polished Broadway musical — with amazing clothes — as the sun set on Paris’ magnificent Place Vendome.
For the third Vogue World event, following a New York street fair in 2022 and a tribute to London’s theater scene in 2023, the show dovetailed with the Paris Games — celebrating all things French and runway.
Fashion designs were showcased to a backdrop of tap dancing, pirouetting red-wine-holding waiters, and even models clutching baguettes.
Tracing a century, each decade was paired with a designer and style era. The ’20s was cycling and featured white coats by designers such as Chanel and Schiaparelli. The ’30s was “track and field” by Balenciaga.
The ’40s, the era that gave the bikini to the world, featured “aquatics” by Jacquemus. The ’50s brought “equestrian” styles shown through the prism of the decade-defining New Look by Dior. The ’60s was Courreges’ fencing looks.
By the time the ’70s came up with choreographed Givenchy-fueled “gymnastics,” some journalists had completely forgotten to keep taking notes, caught up in the intoxicating sight of the choreographed spectacle on the picturesque plaza, whose star-filled front row, including Pharrell Williams, rivaled even the stars that trod the boards (cobbles).
The ’80s focused on martial arts and the ’90s on soccer, with a reinterpretation of late icon Azzedine Alaia’s tricolor dress. Cheers rose when the Williams sisters appeared for the “tennis” section, Venus in a bold figure-hugging mermaid dress and Serena warrior-like in a black, utilitarian split gown.
The finale featured breakdancing. The atmosphere was electric, serving as an unofficial kickoff for the Paris Games, which will run from July 26 to August 11.
