Paris Fashion Week 2023: Valentino’s black-tie show brought A-listers Priyanka Chopra and Guan Xiaotong, Naomi Campbell opened Alexander McQueen’s orchid-inspired runway, and Lanvin kept things simple

Mar 7 , 2023

Models presenting creations from Lanvin womenswear autumn/winter 2023-24 collection during Paris Fashion Week at Collège des Bernardins in Paris, on March 5. Photos: AFP

PFW saw designers look to gender-fluid ensembles, like Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli who deconstructed the classic suit in different forms, with Emma Roberts, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz in tow

Lanvin kept it simple, as approved by Avril Lavigne, and Cheng Yi and Elle Fanning watched Alexander McQueen’s orchid-themed runway – but what about Balenciaga and Givenchy’s imaginative invitations?

Cars snaked for blocks dropping off countless VIPs for Valentino’s “black-tie” show at Paris Fashion Week as the evening Paris lights bathed the nearby Arc de Triomphe. Its designer Pierpaolo Piccioli put on a star-studded collection that deconstructed the suit amid androgyny and sartorial plays.

Meanwhile at Lanvin, stars such as Avril Lavigne sat beneath the Gothic-style arches to view the oldest couture house’s latest designs, which subtly evoked history.

Here are some highlights of the weekend’s ready-to-wear displays.

Valentino’s black tie

A model wears a creation as part of the Valentino autumn/winter 2023-24 ready-to-wear collection presented on March 5, in Paris. Photo: AP

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz soaked up photographers’ flashes inside the ornate Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in the moment of calm before the storm.

Emma Roberts, from left, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz attend the Valentino autumn/winter 2023-24 ready-to-wear collection presented on March 5, in Paris. Photo: AP

They were spotted sitting with Emma Roberts.

A model wears an all-black creation as part of the Valentino autumn/winter 2023-24 ready-to-wear collection presented on March 5, in Paris. Photo: AP

Then as 8pm approached, hordes of fashion insiders wrestled for their places at one of the Paris season’s hotly anticipated shows.

A model wears a suited, gender-fluid creation as part of the Valentino autumn/winter 2023-24 ready-to-wear collection presented on March 5, in Paris. Photo: AP

This autumn, Piccioli captured the gender-fluid zeitgeist with a display that dissected the suit – with black ties, flashes of punk and gold earrings.

A model wears a bow tie creation as part of the Valentino autumn/winter 2023-24 ready-to-wear collection presented on March 5, in Paris. Photo: AP