Saturday was an emotional day at Paris Fashion Week bookended by a debut of sorts and a final bow at two powerhouse British labels. In the afternoon Vivienne Westwood’s widower, Andreas Kronthaler, presented a moving tribute to her personal style in his Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood spring/summer 2024 collection. In the evening Sarah Burton took her final bow at Alexander McQueen, the house where she has spent more than a quarter century, first as founder Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen’s right hand, and later as creative director following his untimely passing. There was not a dry eye in the Carrreau du Temple by the time OG McQueen model Naomi Campbell glided off the runway in a silver bustier with a deep cutout that reached down to her heart.
The Front Row:
Westwood passed away last December aged 81, so the fall/winter 2023 collection was the last for which she had some involvement. Many guests turned up in pieces from that collection, including Pamela Anderson in a green tartan trench with a matching hat. Anderson and Westwood were good friends who met whilst human rights campaigning, and long before Anderson was PFW SS24’s front row darling she attended several Vivienne Westwood shows and even modelled.
The Alexander McQueen front row looked like a Sarah Burton retrospective, with guests dressed in archival pieces from throughout her 13-year-run as creative director. Elle Fanning offered the deepest cut with a a SS13 pannier-hipped dress featuring a latticework corset and skirt embroidered with bees.
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Cate Blanchett repurposed a Alexander McQueen AW18 black and red tuxedo gown that she had previously worn to Cannes, adding a pair of cigarette pants underneath. And Yara Shahidi wore Alexander McQueen SS24 look 16, a blood red silk viscose velvet halterneck dress—the exact same style as walked the runway.
The Memorial:
Westwood and Kronthaler worked together on collections since 1991, and while his name had been on the Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood label (previously called Vivienne Westwood Gold) since 2016, this was the first collection he created without his late wife’s involvement. He included reworked versions of 34 garments that they had designed together over the years, and which had become staples of her personal wardrobe, like a linen cape and a cropped bellboy jacket. The show concluded with two separate bridal looks, the second worn by Westwood’s granddaughter Cora Corré.
The New Direction:
There was a new lightness about collections shown Saturday afternoon. At Hèrmes, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski showed apron-style flowing jackets and trench coats with convertible sleeves that unbuttoned into wings, alongside the label’s signature leather separates. Models traversed a dreamy indoor field of wildflowers, with all species replanted following the show. And at Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo showed a playful lineup that was uncharacteristically light — in spirit anyway — featuring monumental rainbow-colored wearable sculptures.
The Final Bow:
Burton dedicated her final collection to Lee McQueen, and drew inspiration from Queen Elizabeth I and the feminist artist Magdalena Abakanowicz for a procession of powerfully uncompromising looks that celebrated the strength found in femininity. Kaia Gerber, Jill Kortleve, Vittoria Ceretti, and Naomi Campbell took turns in a lineup that featured leather corsetry, blood red rose prints, tailored frock coats with cutaway fronts, and the return of bumster trouser. It all felt signature McQueen — and signature Burton.
