Fashion

Menswear stands out during Paris Fashion Week. Designers are reinventing men's fashion through the astonishing and creative autumn-winter 2018 collections. Kris Van Assche mixes sportswear and tailoring at Dior Homme. Olivier Rousteing deconstructs gender issues at Balmain, while Kim Jones presents his last collection at the head of Louis Vuitton. Finally, Rick Owens redefines beauty and body concepts. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks to check out the menswear trends of tomorrow.

FRANCE 24 checks out the Haute Couture spring/summer 2018 shows. Jean Paul Gaultier is paying homage to Pierre Cardin. The star couturier of the 1960s was the inventor of high-concept, theatrical fashion shows and took Gaultier under his wing when he was just 18, nurturing the talent who would come to be known as the "enfant terrible" of fashion. Over at Christian Dior, artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri draws inspiration from Argentinian surrealist Leonor Fini and organises a masked ball.

With refined survival wear, sustainable garments and comfortable avant-garde sportswear, designers at the 93rd edition of Pitti Uomo in Florence - the world's largest men's fashion showcase - are defining tomorrow’s clothes today. From Birkenstock to Karl Lagerfeld, FRANCE 24 takes you to discover the latest trends in menswear.

Among 2017’s fashion highlights: A growing awareness of the influence of models on young women and the role they play in shaping societal ideals. Also during the year, we saw a new form of feminism emerge. Women are increasingly challenging their underrepresentation within the upper echelons of the fashion industry. And international fashion schools are applying new pedagogies of creativity. Finally, Africa is becoming the second market to invest with a billion consumers to cuddle.

Every year, La Friperie Solidaire (Abbé Pierre Foundation and Emmaüs) handles 400 tonnes of clothes. Raw material of the solidarity economy, they’re first sorted, and then either sent to countries that need them, or recycled. For Christmas, the association organised a fashion show. The name of this collection is Panache Solidaire, or Spirit of Solidarity. It’s a name that points to the joys that can be found in intercultural exchange, and tolerance.

Whether it's rebellious, classical or audacious, this winter’s haute couture offering is impressive. It's also big business: the global luxury goods market grew five percent this year and now represents an eye-watering €1.2 trillion. For this winter's collections, presented in Paris in July, Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf staged Action Dolls wearing Doc Martens, while South Korean-born Danish designer Hyun Mi Nielsen was inspired by folk music, and Azerbaijan's Gyunel by Luc Besson's film "Lucy".

Fashion isn't only a woman's game. In fact menswear collections are often just as innovative and eye-catching as womenswear. Especially when they provide a way of interrogating and exploring the times we live in. So here it is: a selection of the most impressive menswear offerings for this winter, including Dior Homme, Balmain, Sankuanz, Cerruti, Thom Browne. And as Boy George put it: "When there’s kind of a right-wing mood, creatives start to grow from the cracks. The flowers start to bloom."

"Women taught me everything I know". Franco-Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa, among the most prolific and talented couturiers of his day, passed away in Paris on November 18, aged 77. His name has become a byword for a powerful and sensual understanding of style. Known for collections that combined sensuality with strength, Alaïa was wary of journalists and only rarely gave interviews. In this special programme, FRANCE 24 pays tribute to a fashion great. On France24.com: Luminaries attend funeral of designer Azzedine Alaïa

Lebanon has always acted as a meeting point between East and West. Despite its political and security crises, for its 2017 edition, the "new" Beirut Fashion Week - which hadn't taken place for ten years - gives the city a sophisticated and modern image. As proof, designer Amal Azhari shows off her sexy yet traditional collection, structured around tunics worn in the Arab world: kaftans. FRANCE 24 takes you to check out her designs and much more.

Fashion is a question of perspective. Clothes that may appear ridiculous to some are beautiful to others. You may find these collections strange, beautiful or even alarming - and that’s the point. Next winter's fashion designers offer a point of view for everyone. FRANCE 24 takes you to the Paris catwalks. Featuring America's Rick Owens, China's Masha Ma, Japan's Yohji Yamamoto, Britain's Bill Gaytten for John Galliano, France's Christelle Kocher as well as Olivier Rousteing for Balmain.