The bar was set high a month before the Olympic Games as the Vogue World event brought together fashion and sport for an unprecedented crossover show in the heart of Paris. "We are here to celebrate the wonders of French fashion. I am very grateful for the support of everyone here in France and the fashion world,” said the Sunday show’s organizer, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Raising her trademark dark glasses towards the column of Place Vendome, Wintour, dressed in a multi-colored sequined ensemble, said she was grateful "it wasn’t raining” on the square, which had been locked off for the occasion. "The challenge was to honor the big houses and dedicate this evening to all the creators,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told AFP. In front of the Ritz, the emblematic hotel of the City of Lights where Wintour is a regular, a select list of 800 guests included Pharrell Williams, Jared Leto, Diane Kruger and Eva Longoria.
The show began with Jean Paul Gaultier putting the finishing touches to the dress of singer Aya Nakamura, while an orchestra delivered a classical take on Daft Punk’s "Around the World”, escorted by a squad of Parisian waiters carrying trays. The performance by Nakamura, the most popular francophone singer in the world, came at a fraught time in France with the far-right surging ahead of a snap election next week.
It felt like a strong political act given the huge controversy earlier this year when far-right figures denounced rumors that the Franco-Malian singer may perform at the opening ceremony for next month’s Olympic Games. There followed an hour-long show in which different eras of fashion were matched with Olympic sports, performed by models, dancers and athletes leaping, surging and twirling in all directions. Ten decades of fashion were represented from the past century -- marking 100 years since Paris last hosted the Games in 1924.
Cyclists from the French national team spun past while five Chanel dresses from the 1920s were presented, including three from Gabrielle Chanel’s 1924 collection. At one point, supermodels Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner rode horses around the square -- all four wearing Hermes. Fencing and Paco Rabanne were combined for the space-age 1960s, footballers Djibril Cisse, Blaise Matuidi and Emmanuel Petit modelled for the 1990s, while Venus and Serena Williams appeared for the tennis and 2000s era. Other brands taking part included Balenciaga, Balmain, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent.
The show ended with three-time Olympic athletics champion Marie-Jo Perec in a huge dress with a tricolor train, fresh from carrying the flame across the Atlantic, dancing around the column in the center of the square. Vogue World has said it will donate one million euros to charity French Popular Relief, which tackles poverty and discrimination from the proceeds. —AFP