“Open-mindedness is what makes Paris the city of fashion.” So declared Alexandre Samson immediately after tonight’s third-ever edition of Vogue World. We were in Paris (of course), on the Place Vendôme, standing under the famous bronze column across from France’s ministry of Justice. The finale had just finished—all 151 models-worth—and a few moments before that, French NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama and French three-time Olympic gold medallist sprinter Marie-José Pérec had walked the closing brace of looks. Wemby wore white Louis Vuitton tailoring, while Pérec was wrapped in a tailor-made tri-color gown in the colors of France.
As fashion curator and associate artistic director of tonight’s 40-minute Vogue World epic, Samson’s expertise proved central in shaping a show with as many moving parts as any piece of haute horlogerie. He said: “The meaning of things is very present in what we are showing tonight, and I hope people will get it. We found the right look for the right person at the right moment in order to convey a message.” Sport is of course on Paris’s mind right now (amongst other imminent forms of competition). So tonight Samson and his fellow Vogue World team members, including stylists Carine Roitfeld and Ib Kamara, united their energies to deliver a show that fused sport and fashion in order to celebrate the greatness of Paris against one of the city’s most stirring backdrops. The result? Call it a ceremony of open-mindedness.
It was an émigré from England, Charles Frederick Worth, who founded Paris’s first-ever couture house back in the 19th century. Alongside the models, tonight we saw 188 athletes, 40 dancers, and a 40-person orchestra combine their talents to illustrate some of the many culture-shifting stories that Worth’s art form has since produced. Just a few included the surrealist practice of Elsa Schiaparelli, the sculptural innovation of Cristóbal Balenciaga, the Battle of Versailles, and the 1980s influx of a new wave of designers from Japan including Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe.
Sometimes Samson and his co-creators shifted their emphasis, leaning on the history of sporting excellence as a platform for highlighting canonical Parisian fashion creators from France and beyond, both heritage and contemporary. During the 1950s section, for instance, the connection between equestrianism and Hermès practically begged for the coup-de-theatre of the Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner on-horseback moment. Before them came a cluster of Christian Dior’s riding inspired Bar jackets, and as they passed their path was flanked by a line of flags in recycled scarfs by Paris’s progressive champion of sustainability, Marine Serre.
As well as intertwining the endeavors of sport and fashion through the narratives touched on above (and so many others) this Vogue World was further fueled by performances from artists including Aya Nakamura (in Jean Paul Gaultier) and Bad Bunny. As well as celebrating those stories of achievement, the event was also focused on contributing to the creation of new ones through its fundraising for Secours Populaire in order to further the non-profit’s work to provide young athletes from across the country access to equipment and coaching. Yes, we’re partisan supporters of the home team here, but tonight’s Vogue World played out as an engrossingly entertaining celebration of creativity, competition, and community, all held at the very center of fashion.
