All The Moments You Might Have Missed From Vogue World: Paris

On the evening of Sunday 23 June, Vogue World: Paris brought together 188 athletes, 151 models, 70 dancers, and a 40-piece orchestra for a performance that began in the Ritz and ended with 20 international breakdancers taking over Place Vendôme. The theme of the night? The evolution of style over the last century, with each decade of fashion paired with a different sport: the Roaring Twenties with cycling (in the Jazz Age, bicycles were seen as a symbol of the speed, freedom, and mobility that defined the period); the elegant midcentury gowns of the ’50s with all things equine; the leotard- and lycra-obsessed ’70s with gymnastics; the ’90s, aka the WAG era, with football… As Carine Roitfeld, who styled the event with Ib Kamara, put it, “It’s something that’s never been seen before,” with Vogue World marking the first time a fashion show has ever been staged at Place Vendôme. Watch the livestream in full, and read on for a recap of the highlights from the 40-minute show.

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Les petites mains traded their ateliers for the front row

Paris is, of course, the birthplace of couture, with Charles Frederick Worth opening the first atelier a stone’s throw from Place Vendôme on Rue de la Paix in 1858. It only seemed fitting then, for Vogue World to begin with a tribute to all of the petites mains responsible for making creative directors’ visions a reality each and every Couture Week, with dozens of artisans wending their way through the square in their traditional white coats before taking front-row seats for the performance. Among the houses they represented? Armani Privé, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Giambattista Valli, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, and Schiaparelli.

Jean Paul Gaultier put on the Ritz, at the Ritz

Jean Paul Gaultier turned dresser for Vogue World: Paris, helping French-Malian musician Aya Nakamura into a custom-made gown backstage at the Ritz during the evening’s ouverture. The look is a combination of two previous designs by the enfant terrible of French fashion. “At my last show at the Théâtre du Châtelet in 2020, the final tableau featured outfits in different skin colours,” the designer told Vogue of the outfit’s conception ahead of the livestream. “I revisited that idea with this corset, which is taken from the Amy Winehouse-inspired spring/summer 2012 collection.” Her stays expertly laced by Gaultier himself, Aya – who, at 29, is the most widely streamed female artist in the French-speaking world – walked out into Place Vendôme to perform. Narrating her movements: emcee for the evening, Cara Delevingne, who wore a nautical look from Simone Rocha’s collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier earlier this year.