Jonathan Anderson’s much-awaited sophomore collection for Dior, Canada’s Matières Fécales open Paris Fashion Week | Canada Voices

It’s the final leg of the “Big Four” fashion weeks, a month of shows and events across New York, London, Milan and Paris. The Fall/Winter 2026 collections may be foremost on everyone’s minds, but Paris Fashion Week began with sunshine and springtime temperatures.

Walk in the park

How appropriate, then, that Christian Dior opened the week in the Tuileries Garden. The luxury house constructed a bridge across the iconic Grand Basin, which had been decorated with Monet-inspired water lilies. The catwalk continued on to a windowed tunnel that traced the perimeter of the pool. Guests cooled themselves with handheld fans, feeling the effects of the early-March heatwave.

While stars and VIPs filled the audience, fashion cognoscenti were eager to eye the sophomore collection of Jonathan Anderson, whose debut with the house last October was part of a tectonic shift that also registered new creative heads at Balenciaga (Pierpaolo Piccioli) and Chanel (Matthieu Blazy).

Back to Anderson: the Northern Irish designer delivered iconic Dior with modern frills. The classic hourglass jacket was remixed with an Empire waistline for a babydoll effect. In a juxtaposition of high fashion and streetwear, jeans were embellished with glittery scallop patterns, and dresses were paired with caramel suede moto boots. In line with the water lily theme, a dress of pink petals flowered under the sun.

Strength in numbers

About an hour later, a different crowd assembled at nearby Palais Brongniart. Formerly the Paris Stock Exchange, the Napoleonic building was a fitting location for Matières Fécales, a young label led by Canadian couple Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran.

Their third collection, titled “The One Percent,” explored the concepts of money and power while celebrating diversity and inclusivity. The runway was a family reunion for self-described “outcasts” – models of all shapes, sizes and genders – including Montrealer Coco Labbée, who was hand-picked by Dalton and Bhaskaran.

Sitting in the front row was one of the duo’s teachers from LaSalle College, where the pair studied design. His assignment for their 2015 graduation project was to create a vision of luxury for the year 2025. The final look was Bhaskaran’s project from that day: a white, sculptural gown with a royal Elizabethan silhouette.

Sunset salutation

Come nightfall, Yves Saint Laurent set a dramatic scene inside a black box hovering over the fountain at Jardins du Trocadéro. The elegant salon with wooden walls and carpeted floors offered a million-dollar view of the Eiffel Tower.

Bathed in golden light, Anthony Vaccarello’s monochromatic collection – largely black, cocoa and cream – ushered in his 2026 interpretation of couturier Yves Saint Laurent’s groundbreaking tuxedo for women, dubbed Le Smoking. Single- and double-breasted suits came with broad, structured shoulders and flowing trousers. In contrast, variations of silicone-treated lace gave new shape to the negligée and a modern take on underwear as outerwear.

Hellos and goodbyes

After 14 sensational years with Balmain, Olivier Rousteing’s departure last season left many questions about the brand’s future. The maison’s new creative director, Antonin Tron, answered that question with his opening look: an aviator jacket that paid homage to Air France’s first female pilot, Danielle Décuré.

This seemingly small gesture established a new direction for Balmain; it was a clear return to the roots of house founder Pierre Balmain, who designed Décuré’s uniform for her first flight in 1975. Tron’s collection relied on structure, sophistication and restraint. And the result was flawless.

Father’s pride

Nostalgia was the name of the game for Stella McCartney. The British designer spilled the story of her life onto the runway at the Société Equestrienne de Paris in the outskirts of the city. A group of black and white horses also shared the spotlight (with equestrian artist Jean-François Pignon) in their own simultaneous sideshow. McCartney, daughter of Paul McCartney, is a longtime horse enthusiast.

McCartney’s youth in the 1980s inspired ballerina-top bodysuits, lace slip-dresses worn with jeans, stirrup slacks, striped polos showing layers of collars, and crocheted heart vests and scarves. Her afternoon of “equine therapy” closed with a tank top confiding she’s still daddy’s little girl and, perhaps, that nepotism is cool: “My dad’s a rock star,” it said. Papa Paul beamed from the front row.

Congrats are also in order, as the following day the designer was knighted, so to speak, with France’s most prestigious honour, the Chévalier de la Légion d’honneur. French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged her 25 years in the fashion world, as well as her regard for the environment and animal welfare.

Swan song

Pieter Mulier (who brought the world the much-copied mesh ballerina flats) sent an emotional farewell collection down the runway, attended by his fashion friends Raf Simons and Matthieu Blazy. After five years at the helm of Alaïa – the first designer to take the reins after founder Azzedine Alaïa’s passing – the Belgian designer will move into Versace’s atelier, replacing Donatella Versace.

In keeping with Alaïa’s bodycon fetish – he created the form-fitting Bandage dress – Mulier’s collection distilled the iconic silhouette in long tank dresses, some with turtlenecks and underlying bodysuits.

Sitting front row was American actress Alicia Silverstone, who brought the designer’s notoriety to the masses when her Clueless character Cher exclaimed, “You don’t understand. This is an Alaïa!” in the ’90s cult fashion film.

Fun details

On a final, tiny note of levity, 10-year-old Max Alexander made Guinness World Record history as the youngest designer to show at Paris Fashion Week. The California-born wunderkind presented his precocious Couture to the Max label at the not-so-shabby Palais Garnier.

In a patriotic twist, it turns out that Alexander’s great-grandfather is from Canada. His mother, Sherri Madison, told The Globe and Mail that Jack Kolodny immigrated to Montreal from Europe in the 1920s with only five dollars and his sewing shears.

“He started on the cutting room floor and went on to own over 40 dress stores,” she said. The stores, all of which are now gone, were called Fifth Avenue.