Saint Laurent is back on Paris Fashion Week calendar

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 15, 2021

Saint Laurent, the first major house that led a wave of departures from Paris Fashion Week, has decided to return to the season, according to the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, which released the official calendar on Tuesday evening. 

The house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, and now owned by luxury giant Kering, staged its most recent show on an island in Venice during the two-year period it quit the Paris season.

The decision to leave the French season also ultimately led to the departure of its CEO Francesca Bellettini as president of the Federation’s ready to wear division, as multiple CEOs based in Paris expressed their frustration at Saint Laurent’s no-show-in-Paris policy.

Instead, this season, Saint Laurent will stage its show at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28, the first full day of shows in Paris.

The next Paris runway season will take place from September 27 to October 5 in the form of physical and digital events, with 97 houses registered on the official calendar, nearly 40 of whom will stage actual live shows with models.

“In accordance with the Law, the health pass will be compulsory for access physical events. The Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion and the registered Houses in the Official Calendar will also comply with all recommendations and directives of the authorities public,” the Federation stressed in its release.
 
All digital events will be broadcast on the Paris Fashion Week digital platform.

Back in April 2020, the house shocked the French establishment by its sudden announcement in an official statement: “Saint Laurent will take ownership of its calendar and launch its collections following a plan conceived with an up-to-date perspective, driven by creativity.”

In the wake of its move, a slew of Kering brands also began skipping official runway seasons as Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta, which even held non-press shows in London and Berlin, and all but disappeared from established fashion weeks.

The fragmentation of the major international seasons has obviously been affected by the worldwide pandemic, causing multiple brands to experiment with new runway and video formulae.

Even last week, McQueen announced that it would not be returning to show in Paris, where it has staged shows for over a decade but would instead hold its next catwalk event in London on October 12, the day before the opening of Frieze Art Fair, which the label has previously sponsored.