This special report zooms in on the smaller fashion houses that sparkled during Paris Fashion Week. Vincent Pressiat, like Victor Weinsanto, looked to the past, when the king's favourites ruled the roost. Alain Paul recalled his first auditions as a young dancer. Ukrainian Lilia Litkovska is still designing, despite the war. Last but not least, Afro-Caribbean designers were celebrated at the Paris edition of Togo's International Fashion Festival.

Raising awareness about the fragility of our oceans, our land and our Indigenous heritage is the challenge facing a new generation of couturiers. For autumn-winter 2025/26, Iris van Herpen has created a living dress, Imane Ayissi wants the Earth to regenerate naturally, Grace Lillian Lee is celebrating her Australian ancestors and Stéphane Rolland has opened up a dialogue with music. As for Clara Daguin, her motto is: if you want to save others, first save yourself.

Whether it involves making space for the trans community, raising awareness about conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, expressing their distrust of conventional conservative attitudes or funding scientific research that has nothing to do with the fashion industry, Jeanne Friot, Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Walter van Beirendonck and Agnès b. are all deeply committed to their causes. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

To create a fashion collection, you need three key elements: silhouette, colour, material – be it for clothes or accessories. Yet these ingredients are lifeless without the discourse and the incredible stories that transform them into objects of desire. Stories told with sincerity, from Marine Serre’s Lynchian ambitions to Lilia Litkovska’s resolve to work while the bombs are falling; Fashion Week’s top prize goes to Yohji Yamamoto for his flights of fancy.

Togo's International Fashion Festival has chosen a topical theme for its twelfth edition: the fight against cancer. The issue may not appear glamorous, but the alarming rise in cancer rates makes it extremely relevant. Jacques Logoh, the festival's founder, believes that fashion must help raise awareness of the disease, with prevention as its watchword. As such, some 40 designers from 25 countries are showing off their artisanal and fashion expertise at the event. FRANCE 24 went to check it out.

The collective show from the international students of the Institut Français de la Mode kicks off the autumn-winter 2025/26 presentations and asks contemporary questions. How can a disruptive society impact a creative process that is seeped in societal evolutions such as artificial intelligence? Meanwhile, Victor Weinsanto defends trans people, Vincent Pressiat celebrates Pierre Soulages and Maria Grazia Chiuri celebrates Bob Wilson's phantasmagorical vision at Dior.

What do designers Olivier Saillard, Kevin Germanier, Stéphane Rolland, Khol by Hamza Guelmouss and Valentin Nicot as well as Julien Fournié all have in common? They are reinventing the notion of haute couture, often in an artistic, aesthetic way, while being mindful of environmental issues and respectful of their elders. It's a question of playful modernisation; a snapshot of a politically-conscious world. FRANCE 24 takes you to check out the summer 2025 collections.

Designers Jeanne Friot, Walter Van Beirendonck and Louis Gabriel Nouchi have taken a stand to defend gender-neutral fashion, calling for inclusion rather than exclusion. Meanwhile, Japanese labels Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto propose a simple, comfortable wardrobe, underpinned with poetry. All of these designers have opted for extraordinary fabrics to create their latest collections. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

In 2025's uncertain climate and amid international crises, luxury industries are questioning their model: how to meet ever more ambitious financial targets? How can creativity inspire people to dream? Solutions are offered up by feminist designer Maria Grazia Chiuri’s take on Alice and her wonderland, while irresistible Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf make fun of AI and the sparkling Japanese couturier Yuima Nakazato has an outfit that we'll be able to wear for 10,000 years.

Luxury fashion is big business. To stay relevant, big luxury houses and independent labels alike know to constantly refresh their communication strategies. Celebrity endorsement still holds enormous sway, but the clothes themselves need to tell a story. Today, that story is increasingly one of liberté, égalité and fraternité! For proof, look no further than the latest collections from Louis Vuitton Homme, Jeanne Friot, Imane Ayissi and Yohji Yamamoto.