Celebrities stir the hype at Louis Vuitton and Rick Owens Paris shows | Paris fashion week

IIn an attention economy, fashion brands know it’s all about getting as many eyes on their clothes as possible. At Thursday’s Paris Fashion Week, they did so with an age-old tactic: fame and hype.

Rick Owens, a brand known for a fairly experimental aesthetic that includes sky-high Plexiglas boots for men and a gothic affinity for black, had household names Usher and David and Victoria Beckham front and center.

Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton let BTS member J-Hope watch the show, featuring Rosalia and guest designer Colm Dillane, founder of the KidSuper brand (worn by Neymar and Dua Lipa). The set, a range of living spaces from a teenage bedroom to a mid-century modern living room, was designed by filmmakers Michel and Olivier Gondry.

The celebrities present did their part. Victoria Beckham posted a video of the Owens show finale to her Instagram Stories with the caption, “Congratulations Rick Owens! Kiss VB.” J-Hope posted selfies of himself in Louis Vuitton ahead of the show. The hordes of fans outside of the show’s venue also helped fuel the hype.

While Owens has a reputation for classics with a gothic twist, the dresses on Thursday’s runway were a little fancier and included horned-shoulder jackets. Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images

After the Rick Owens show, Usher said he was a long-time fan and described the designer as “phenomenal”. “He doesn’t deviate, he’s consistent,” the singer added. “These are clothes you will have in your closet forever.”

While Owens has earned a reputation for selling luxury classics with a gothic edge, the clothes on Thursday’s runway were a little more fantastic. These included flared, thigh-length leather leg warmers, jackets with horned shoulders, and coats with totally impractical inflatable sections. Owens has long pioneered the growing mainstream trend of men’s skirts – and there have been many of them. Perhaps David Beckham would have been reminded of his sarong moment 25 years ago.

The Louis Vuitton show felt for a demographic that lives on social media and flits between apps. The stimulation has been increased. Models walked a catwalk and among spectators, and also interacted with the set – throwing darts at a dartboard, drawing on the walls and rummaging through a drawer full of clothes. Rosalia performed in a customized yellow car and bounced on a bed.

Louis Vuitton’s show played with logos and different sports, with outfits celebrating motocross, skiing and hiking Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

A movie also played and cameras whizzed by, recording the show for a live stream.

The clothes – when they caught attention – played with logos and different sports, with the outfits celebrating motocross, skiing and hiking. Boredom was not an option.

Louis Vuitton menswear is still overshadowed by former artistic director Virgil Abloh, who died in November 2021 at the age of 41. Dillane was endorsed by Abloh – the KidSuper designer was awarded LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2021 when Abloh was on the board.

Dillane’s artistic approach to streetwear fits perfectly with Abloh’s work at Louis Vuitton. It also shows that his legacy continues to play a big role. Before Abloh, a streetwear brand partnered with one of the world’s blue-chip luxury houses would have raised eyebrows. Now it just adds to the hype.

Speculations continue as to who will be named as the new creative director. Louis Vuitton said Dillane is a guest designer and is not accepting the position. The British designers Grace Wales Bonner and Martine Rose were named as candidates.

Wales Bonner, speaking after her show in Paris on Tuesday, denied she would take over. “I’m really just focused on Wales Bonner,” she told the Guardian. “For me, that’s still a long way to go.”

Rose, on the other hand, has been pumping praise around her name lately. After designing stage attire for Kendrick Lamar, her recent show at Florence’s Pitti was widely praised for a mixture of what another magazine called “seriousness and silliness.”