Vuitton tops off fashion season with a museum mash-up

The streets of Paris have transformed into a showcase of astounding style ranging from the elegant to the edgy for Fashion Week. Here's a glance at outstanding ensembles that attendees have taken to the Spring 2020 shows by Christian Dior, Maison Margiela, and other brands.

From scintillating sophistication at Saint Laurent to Virginie Viard's approachable take on classic Chanel tweeds, here's a glance over the season-defining Spring 2020 shows presented during Paris Fashion Week.

The LVMH-owned brand, which said few weeks that it was the new owner of the 1,758-carat Sewelo, displayed the glinting, blackened stone at its Place Vendome store in Paris.

This year, three strong messages were conveyed at Paris fashion week: at Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri once again flaunts her feminist credentials, Marine Serre embraces recycling, while Dawei advocates for courtesy and respect. The Chinese designer chose to self-quarantine, on the remote off chance he’s brought coronavirus back from Beijing.

In this edition of Across Africa we take you to eastern Ethiopia where refugees from kenya's Kakuma camp are finally coming home motivated by recent political and economic reforms. We also head to Angola where the country is tempting more lovers of its romantic Kizomba dance. Finally, we speak to Thebe Magugu, South African designer and 2019 LVMH prize winner as he exhibits for the first time at Paris Fashion week.

The first-ever online Paris fashion week clicks off with the world of runway shows thrown into an existential crisis by the coronavirus. Dior has replaced its usual runway show with a short film by Italian Director Matteo Garrone, showcasing a miniature collection.

In an online message to mark the start of Paris Fashion Week, British supermodel Naomi Campbell ushered in a new age of digital fashion, while also embracing the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement. In these extraordinary times due to Covid-19, runway fashion shows are banned, with designers instead releasing videos on social media to showcase their collections, directed by an array of impressive names. We take a look at how this form of French soft power is moving with the times.

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.

Covid-19 restrictions mean that Paris Fashion Week is taking place in the digital sphere. In-the-flesh fashion shows, interviews and parties aren't happening – instead, buyers and journalists get to sit back and watch a series of films via social media. So how are these films made? We spent 72 hours with Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, a young Parisian designer whose collection, shown at the Palais de Tokyo, is inspired by Franz Kafka's book "The Trial" and brought to life with the help of choreographer Sohrâb Chitan.

Models walk the runway with the Eiffel Tower in the background as Yves Saint Laurent's live show returns to the Paris Fashion Week. The live shows follow similiar returns at London, Milan and New York fashion weeks this year, after much of the designer world moved online last year thanks to Covid.

After 18 months of mostly online shows, Paris Fashion Week is back with models, designers, celebrities and fashionistas flocking to in-person shows. Fashion writer Alice Pfeiffer talks about the post-pandemic era of fashion; the radical change at Dior, one of France's oldest brands; plus her favourite show so far: Charles de Vilmorin's first collection as creative director of Rochas.

Climate activists burst onto the catwalk brandishing banners reading "Overconsumption = extinction" at Louis Vuitton's Paris Fashion Week show. Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth and Youth For Climate said in a statement that around 30 people were involved in planning the protest, with two arrested. They called on the government to enforce "an immediate cut in production levels in the sector, given that 42 items of clothing were sold per person in France in 2019".