Ready-to-wear, summer 2022: The era of the female gaze

At Paris Fashion Week, French luxury giants LVMH and Kering revolutionise the runway with a charter on models' rights.

Fashion is always one season ahead, defined by its link to the disruptions that push our society forward. For its winter 2020 ready-to-wear collections, Chanel sends both slim and voluptuous models down the catwalk; black and white women dressed as musketeers. Balmain rethinks the very concept of the bourgeoisie, while Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize joins his South African colleague Thebe Magugu in turning to his roots for inspiration. Last but not least, Japanese designers Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto

As the world of fashion mourns the death of Kenzo Takada, Paris once again plays host to real-life fashion shows. Under the leadership of creative director Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Kenzo sounds the alarm over the destruction of global bee populations. At Dior, meanwhile, Maria Grazia Chiuri explores the way clothes are now more in the private sphere than ever before. And Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize uses his catwalk show to send home a defiant message: the celebration of his queer identity.

No one really knows what next summer will bring, but one thing's for sure. When it comes to ready-to-wear fashion, there's a choice between two standout trends: streetwear and drapery. Will the seductive volumes of Yohji Yamamoto carry the day, or will it be the often tongue-in-cheek style of Prune Goldschmidt? Or will it be a choice between the form-hugging creations of Malian-Senegalese designer Lamine Kouyaté and the relaxed "street couture" of Christelle Kocher? FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

Mirror, mirror on the wall… who's the fairest of them all? Dior’s sumptuous and subversive film for next autumn's ready-to-wear offerings suggests the answer isn't a simple one. With in-person fashion weeks still cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the film was shot inside Versailles's world-famous hall of mirrors. Maria Grazia Chiuri takes us deep into a world of fairy tales with the help of a challenging set from Italian artist Silvia Giambrone, set off by choreography from Sharon Eyal.

After seemingly endless months of cancelled and postponed events, life has almost returned to normal in the French capital. Theatres, cinemas and museums are throwing their doors wide open and catwalk shows are back. In Paris, Dior presented a dreamlike collection set against an arid decor, Parisian designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi created a collection for Chinese label Joeone, while Maroussia Rebecq, queen of upcycling, issued a defiant call for a "fashion revolution". We bring you a glimpse of Paris Fashion Week.

After almost two years of empty catwalks, summer 2022's ready-to-wear collections were finally able to be shown in public, and designers rose to the occasion. Yohji Yamamoto's collection was all about the perils of climate change. But the standout feature of this season is an approach to fashion that privileges the female gaze, with Marine Serre, Dior and Isabel Marant all presenting clothes designed to be worn by women and enjoyed by women – rather than having men looking at them!

Today, the fashion industry is increasingly waking up to the importance of acknowledging the full range of human experience in the clothes and messaging it puts out. Inclusion is in fashion and it's taking many exciting forms, from a catwalk show for amputees in Paris to a show by Parisian label Victoria/Tomas that uses the designers' mums as models, via a project that helps migrants pursue careers in textiles in France. FRANCE 24 brings you a round-up.

January's summer 2022 Couture Fashion Week showcased the latest sartorial offerings from 17 labels, just over half the number included in the official calendar due to ongoing Covid restrictions. Dior's Maria-Grazia Chiuri offered an ode to embroidery at Paris's Rodin museum, Jean Paul Gaultier handed the reigns of his empire over to Belgian designer Glenn Martens, while Alexandre Vauthier embraced the Roaring Twenties as an homage to our collective resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks.

Haute couture is about innovation and exquisite tailoring, but it's also about ideas. Franco-Cameroonian designer Imane Ayissi, the first Black designer honoured with the title of "couturier" by France's Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion, offers a collection that fuses Western and African influences. Meanwhile, Japan's Yuima Nakazato interrogates the limits of our abilities of perception with his "Liminal" collection. And after a two-year absence, Lebanese couturier Elie Saab is overjoyed to be back in Paris. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks at Paris Fashion Week.

War may have broken out in Europe, but the world of fashion has decided that the show – that is, next winter's ready-to-wear Fashion Week – must go on. Financial interests no doubt played a large part in that decision, but so too did the conviction that now isn't the time to be stifling artistic expression. For the occasion, Dior takes advantage of technological innovation, Caribbean duo Botter defend coral reefs and the French Institute of Fashion encourages its students to embrace virtual reality.

With war raging in Ukraine, it's not easy to know how to speak about fashion – if at all. The best answer is to face the paradox. Thanks to the French Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion, Ukrainian designer Lilia Litovskaya is now safe in Paris. At Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, who fled a Kremlin-backed civil war in Georgia in 1993, offers up a hostile backdrop for his collection. Labels Marine Serrre, Atlein, Benmoyal and Germanier, meanwhile, are championing freedom of expression with their eco-friendly offerings.