The Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which presented the spring/summer 2024 collections, has just come to an end. To get an idea of what it was like there, you can draw a parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, because the main focus was on the high-profile guests.
This confirms the trend season after season: the more celebrities there are, the greater the media impact. In other words, the greater the return on investment (ROI) for the brand. Some of the 80 designers who were part of the official Paris menswear calendar took advantage of this trend. 42 of them sent models down the catwalks, while others opted for presentations.
If return on investment were a game, before the numbers confirmed, one could assume that Louis Vuitton would emerge as the clear winner. It’s impossible to surf social media, be it Instagram, TikTok or Twitter, or google the words “Paris Fashion Week” without coming across images or reports from Pharrell Williams’ debut show for the French luxury fashion house.
In 2022, the brand performance company Launchmetrics estimated the brand value of Louis Vuitton for menswear at 16 million US dollars (approx. 14.63 million euros). There has been much speculation about the level of investment for the show this June, citing the unverifiable and likely exaggerated figure of €200 million. If this figure proves correct, then it should be compared to the total of 229 million spent on organizing catwalks, presentations and other events throughout the six fashion weeks of 2017, according to the Institut Français de la Mode.
Is the parade show profitable? That’s probably not the point. Good or bad, the main thing is that the brand or creative director Pharrell Williams is being talked about. His presence at the Loewe show, holding his reinterpretation of the yellow Louis Vuitton Speedy monogram bag (already out of stock), ensured that the bag is already out of stock. He also attracted the attention of his fans at Kenzo and thus attracted even more attention.
Loewe and Dior: International star guests and breathtaking stage sets to advertise the brand
The presence of gray-haired South Korean pop singer Taeyong, model Emily Ratajkowski, actors Corey Mylchreest and Sebastian Stan helped raise the profile of Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe Show. But what really caught the eye was the arrival of Omar Rudberg and Kit Connor, heroes of Netflix series Young Royals, whose story about young, affluent people is sure to appeal to the luxury brand’s demographic.
In addition to this array of newcomers, the idols of Gen Z, the Loewe show impressed with its scenography. Three gigantic fountains by the American artist Lynda Benglis, standing in a central water bed, and fashion for night owls: inside – full sequin looks, high-waisted trousers and XXL tops.
Stage effects are the second must when it comes to maximizing brand awareness. To celebrate his fifth year at Dior, Kim Jones replaced the traditional catwalk that models strut down with a series of moving hydraulic platforms. The models appeared and disappeared under the floor of the platform.
Dior also welcomed a distinguished front row, with singers and actors Cha Eun-woo and Chen Fei Yu among the most prominent guests, underscoring the brand’s focus on the Asian market.
Ami Paris and the balance between entertainment and business
Closing this chapter of Paris Fashion Week as a gigantic red carpet capable of generating a return on investment, let’s also mention Alexandre Mattiussi for Ami Paris. Admittedly, the brand has fewer resources than luxury conglomerate LVMH, which is omnipresent at Paris Fashion Week, if only through the three labels mentioned above.
Thanks to its backer Sequoia Capital China, the Asian arm of the American fund that also invested in Alibaba, the label was able to gather actors Halle Bailey , Hunter Doohan and Noah Schnapp in the front row. Also, the show was opened by actor Vincent Cassel. The collection featured an impeccable men’s and women’s wardrobe inspired by the minimalism of the 90s.
Unlike the Cannes Film Festival, there is no expert jury to recognize emerging or independent designers who, although little noticed, are nevertheless in the majority, or those who best express important societal concerns, such as environmental issues, who completely ignored in this event.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.fr