Paris Fashion Week 2023: designers revisit the past for their autumn/winter shows as Blackpink’s Jisoo and Dua Lipa look on – from Dior’s rebellious 1950s fare to Saint Laurent’s 1980s shoulders

Mar 2 , 2023

Christian Dior’s autumn/winter 2023-2024 collection enjoyed a spectacular setting at Paris Fashion Week on February 28. Photo: AFP

As Milan Fashion Week ended, attention switched to Paris, where designers showcased their autumn/winter 2023-24 collections, from Mame Kurogouchi’s 80s looks to Vaquera’s bondage gear

Dior invited Elle Macpherson, Maisie Williams and Charlize Theron to its surrealism-themed runway setting, though its designs were inspired by 50s icons Catherine Dior, Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco

After Milan, global fashion’s spotlight shifted to the final stretch of ready-to-wear shows in Paris on Tuesday, as the industry looks to the future with all the final autumn trends.

But displays in the French capital will also revisit the past this week, with homages to recently deceased designers Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanne.

Here are some highlights of Tuesday’s autumn/winter 2023-2024 collections.

Dior’s rebels

Models wear creations as part of the Christian Dior autumn/winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection presented on February 28, in Paris. Photo: AP

A surreal and colourful organic world awaited guests inside Paris’ Tuileries gardens.

A spectacular Dior installation suggestive of a giant octopus spanned the length and breadth of the runway, its colour-rich fabric tentacles gleaming with thousands of tiny lights. It was the work of Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, who wanted to explore how organic form interacted with the “feminine realm of artisanal savoir faire”. It made for a dazzling backdrop especially given the flurry of paparazzi flashes snapping guests including model Elle Macpherson, K-pop star Jisoo and actresses Maisie Williams and Charlize Theron.

A model presents a creation from the autumn/winter 2023-24 womenswear collection by Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior during Paris Fashion Week on February 28. Photo: EPA-EFE

If the decor seemed futuristic, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri used the past as a touchstone in the clothes, resulting in less exuberance – but no less flair.

Three women – the house founder’s sister Catherine Dior, a French resistance hero, as well as French singers Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco, each described as “rebellious, at once strong and fragile” – were muses in this collection. It channelled the 1950s, Christian Dior’s heyday.

While the decor was futuristic, the designs looked to the 1950s for inspiration at Dior during Paris Fashion Week on February 28. Photo: EPA-EFE

A vintage air was evoked in a faded-black leather menswear coat, crumpled houndstooth skirt and wrinkled woollen socks.