The Skirts WERE the runway in Paris

The single most prevalent trend was the skirt — Vogue’s merchandising sources called it “the season of the skirt,” with more skirts than anyone could remember, and Prada even did a skirt-only collection. The data backs it: straight skirts jumped from about five percent of looks to nearly eleven, the biggest riser of the season.

The overall mood was lightness. Sheer layering was everywhere — Chanel opened with a sheer negligée-inspired dress, Hermès layered netted tanks over bras, Dior made air itself a material with chiffon and tulle. That fed into the bra-as-top moment, with Miu Miu, Balmain, and Tom Ford all pushing underwear-as-outerwear.

Louis Vuitton closed the week on October sixth with a collection called “Ergonomie” — Nicolas Ghesquière’s theme of harmony between body, movement, and garment. The show was staged in the Cour Carrée du Louvre against suspended futuristic flying cars, with Zendaya, Brigitte Macron, and Catherine Deneuve in the audience. Looks were fluid and weightless: ruffled plaid blouses with scarf-like trains, butter-yellow silk apron skirts, feather-light capes.

Other notable threads: orange as the breakout color, oversized belts and buckles, a Rococo revival with ribboned mules and Marie Antoinette references, and a “professor jacket” — check and tweed blazers — showing up at Miu Miu, Chanel, and Dior.