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Contrasting palette: Highlights of Paris Fashion Week Spring Summer 2024
The most anticipated show in the year's fashion calendar came to a close with Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2024. The nine-day schedule witnessed the trend of quiet luxury with muted palettes woken up by a loud riot of colour, mocking and inspiring contrasting versions of feminism. Tiny hotpants and visible knickers have become a big trend at the SS24 shows—but whether the look will hit the high street next spring remains to be seen
Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Alexander McQueen
Sarah Burton's farewell collection as creative director of Alexander McQueen took inspiration from blood-red roses for spring. It was also inspired by female anatomy, Queen Elizabeth I and Magdalena Abakanowicz, a transgressive and powerfully creative artist who refused 'ever to compromise her vision'.
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Stella McCartney has been known for pushing the boundaries of sustainable luxury on the catwalk. In this collection, she leapt ahead, using plant-based, grape-based, and apple-based alternatives to animal leather and regenerative cotton, wool, and yarn made from seaweed.
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP; Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Saint Laurent's opulent nighttime show featured a pilot aesthetic, safari-style jumpsuits and cargo trousers inspired by female aviation pioneers Amelia Earhart and Adrienne Bolland. The typically masculine look was feminised with waist-defining leather belts, oversized gold jewellery and towering stilettoes.
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
The Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garçons went avant-garde with a joyful sense of play, expressed through bulbous proportions and shock of texture. "To break free of the gloomy present," Rei wrote of her collection, "I hope to present a bright and light future." 
Image: Stephanie Lecocq / Reuters
Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri presented a largely monochromatic palette of straight masculine jackets, pleated skirts and plenty of knitwear broken up by unexpected, breezy prints. The show was wrapped around a video installation by artist Elena Bellantoni referencing unconventional women, typically considered dark or dangerous.
Image: Bertrand GUAY / AFP
Gothic elegance rang through Rick Owens' vision of a dark universe ignited by a tinted fog and cinematic flair. Oozing with futurism, the volumetric curved garments, lattice-like embellishments and leather bottoms in bold red, burgundy, and pink embraced the dystopian age gladly. 
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Despite the dramatic robbery that saw dozens of its outfits stolen just ten days earlier, the French label Balmain pulled together an exuberant show full of unabashed primary colours, shiny vinyl-style materials and elaborate flower arrangements.
Image: Miguel MEDINA / AFP; Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Junya Watanabe's latest androgynous creations featured purposefully deconstructed tweed and denim garments pulled and frozen at the waist with elongated sleeves and upright collars, an artistic masterclass in creating a sculptural universe of sorts.
Image: Stephanie Lecocq / ReutersNeon-hued marine gastropods were Kevin Germanier's muses for his spring creations. No wonder his exuberantly surreal display was perfect for a rave in space! Frothy orbs of fabric, extremely detailed crystal headpieces, elaborately beaded dresses and boots, this graduate brought fantastical elements and recyclable materials to his debut at the week.
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP; Stephanie Lecocq / ReutersFrench cosmetics giant L'Oréal debuted its runway show with a star-studded line-up that included Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (right) and Navya Nanda. The show was themed "Walk Your Worth", a powerful, inspiring message to women everywhere that ageing is a natural, beautiful process to be embraced in a world that often pressures women to maintain a youthful appearance.
Image: Sarah Meyssonnier / ReutersVirginie Viard's latest collection for Chanel is an ode to a relaxed summer day vibe on the French Riviera, with the classic Chanel tweed appearing as floor-length kaftans, striped sequin trousers in North African-inspired geometrics, patterned capes and flip-flops for daytime!
Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFPMaking a return to the Paris line-up after more than two decades, Pierre Cardin's nephew and designer Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin rocked the stage with an array of retro space-age outfits that harked back to its glory days based on the colour blue, inspired by the ocean and dedicated to the protection of the planet.
