What to expect at a controversial Paris Fashion Week 2023: Balenciaga’s comeback after that bondage bear scandal, and Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanne hold their first shows since founders’ deaths

Mar 1 , 2023

A model showcases the autumn/winter 2023-2024 women’s ready to wear collection show for Saint Laurent during Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Reuters

Balenciaga’s creative director has pledged to ‘go back to his roots’ after the Kering brand’s ill-considered bondage bear ad campaign last year, which seemed to reference child abuse

Critics are also keen to see what Schiaparelli will do after its previously controversial animal head looks as worn by Kylie Jenner, and Vivienne Westwood’s husband goes it alone after her death

Paris Fashion Week 2023 launched on Monday with touches of scandal and grief, as Balenciaga tries to move past recent controversies while Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanne hold their first shows since the founders’ deaths.

The womenswear week in the French capital caps a hectic February for the fashion world, following on the heels of New York, London and Milan.

Kim Kardashian and Demna, wearing a T-shirt in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, at the Balenciaga autumn/winter 2022-23 fashion show in Paris. Photo: Instagram

All eyes are on Balenciaga whose hot streak ended abruptly late last year with a spectacularly ill-considered ad campaign that appeared to reference child abuse, featuring children with teddy bear bags that had studs and harnesses surrounded by adult items including wine glasses.

Balenciaga also had to cut ties with Kanye West who modelled for its last show in Paris in September – after the rapper’s controversial comments about Jews.

US rapper Kanye West (centre) attends the Givenchy spring/summer 2023 fashion show during the Paris Womenswear Fashion Week in Paris, France, in October 2022. Photo: TNS

The scandals hit the bottom line. Coupled with a slump at Gucci, parent company Kering saw fourth-quarter revenues fall by seven per cent.

Profusely apologising in the pages of Vogue, Balenciaga’s creative director Demna has vowed to abandon his provocative approach and get back to basics at this week’s show on Sunday.

“I have decided to go back to my roots in fashion as well as to the roots of Balenciaga, which is making quality clothes – not making image or buzz,” he said.

There is also interest in how Schiaparelli, led by US designer Daniel Roseberry, follows its eye-catching haute couture show in January, when the use of fake animal heads sharply divided audiences.