Paris Fashion Week SS27: Nine Days, 101 Houses, One Season's Script

The fashion calendar takes the same route every year: New York first, then London, then Milan — and finally Paris. In that sequence Paris is not merely "last"; it is where every scattered line of the season is gathered into a single sentence. This year that sentence will be written between 28 September and 6 October.

The official calendar of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode fits 101 fashion houses into nine days: 68 runway shows and 33 presentations. The figures may look dry, but there is a message behind them — Paris is not afraid of growing.

Who opens, who closes

The week opens on 28 September with Julie Kegels. That is one of the calendar's most telling details: the name that opens a season is no longer automatically a giant house. The close stays classical — Louis Vuitton has the final word on 6 October.

In between, the densest day is 29 September: Christian Dior at 14:30 and Saint Laurent at 21:00. Two different images of a woman in one day — one structured and almost architectural, the other built out of night and shadow.

Where the new names sit: SPHERE

The SPHERE showroom runs at the Palais de Tokyo from 30 September to 6 October. This is where emerging designers sit face to face with buyers, and in recent seasons Paris's most notable discoveries have come from exactly there. A trend seen on the runway reaches the shop in six months; a name seen at SPHERE reaches the runway in two seasons.

Paris Fashion Week is not a show but an industry's annual report. It simply happens to be written in silk.

What to watch for

• Silhouette. Will the wide shoulder line that began in Milan soften in Paris?
• Colour. Neutrals have ruled for three seasons; SS27 is expected to bring colour back.
• Materials. Certified silk and recycled weaves now appear in the first paragraph of a press release, not the last.
• Casting. Age and size range on the runway grows a little each season — by how much this year?

How to follow it from Baku

Most large houses stream their shows on their own sites and social channels. From Baku you simply add two hours to Paris time: Dior's 14:30 show is 16:30 here, and Saint Laurent's 21:00 show is 23:00.

Nesreen will publish a separate analysis of the season's five most important shows in the first week of October.