Paris Fashion Week hasn’t exactly ended on an overly happy note. Kanye West is attacking everyone left right and centre after, rightly, being called out for his offensive behaviour at his show yesterday. Everyone is worn out after a month of back-to-back shows all day every day. And, Chanel and Louis Vuitton showed on the same day leaving lots of people feeling underwhelmed.

It is fair to say that both of these beloved brands have been struggling on the runway for the past couple of seasons, failing to inspire anything innovative or popular. While we may have grown weary of the Miu Miu set, at least it bought something fun and interesting to the table for a while. The simple fact is, Chanel and Louis Vuitton both share the same problem, their clothes feel like an afterthought.

Images: Isidore Montag

Realistically, if you were to pop into Selfridge’s and take a look at both brands you will automatically find yourself standing over the handbags and small accessories, maybe even their shoe selection. You may have a Chanel flap bag or LV Neverfull on your dream designer wishlists…but, It’s doubtful that you have a dress or skirt (unless they’re vintage.)

Chanel’s president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky said of today’s Spring 2023 collection, “Fashion week encompasses many of the feelings of the moment…But at Chanel we prefer a dream, some serenity, over controversy.” A nice sentiment, but is this a lazy cop-out? There are only so many times the fashion audience can tolerate classic tweed suit after tweed suit, collection after collection. When will Virginie Viard take the plunge and step out of the Chanel comfort zone, something that Karl Lagerfeld managed to perfect.

Images: Isidore Montag

If you had to hand Louis Vuitton a compliment for their Spring 2023 collection, you can at least say that they tried something new. A participation award. However, while a lot of Chanel’s garments felt wearable, it is hard to imagine just who Ghesquière envisions as the ideal ready-to-wear LV customer. The only customer I can see in the majority of these looks are LV’s celebrity ambassadors.

The garments in both of these shows feel like a rushed afterthought. Chanel was boring and often ill-fitting, and Louis Vuitton was confused and erratic. It may be time that both of these iconic houses hone in on what they’re really good at, accessories. Or, get new people at the helm.

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