PARIS — Where Gucci goes, many brands follow. Not just in terms of fur-lined slides but literally. When the Italian brand decided to swap its pole position in Milan Fashion Week for a show in Paris this season, lo! So did all sorts of its compatriots.
Tod’s threw a breakfast at the Ritz to celebrate its inaugural Tod’s Factory project, a new platform that will allow the label to produce multiple capsule collections per year with different creative partners, from designers to artists. The first collaboration was with Alessandro Dell’Acqua, creative director of the Parisian luxury house Rochas and the founder of the contemporary line No. 21, who introduced the model Edie Campbell as his campaign muse, and nude loafer kitten heels with the Tod’s signature pebble sole as well as black PVC flats with velvet overlays as part of his collection.
“The world is changing so fast,” Diego Della Valle, Tod’s chief executive, said. “We want to remain dedicated to offering high-quality Italian luxury products, but we also know we need to move with the times and find new clients. This unveiling in Paris is a first step in that direction.”
The handbag doyenne Elena Ghisellini also was eager to broaden her horizons. Showing a new collection inspired by luxury resort hotels (totes in swimming pool tones, with rope or sparkling PVC handles; suede bucket bags with Navajo straps), she said, “Lots of people come to Milan for fashion week, but everyone comes to Paris.”
Of course, Aquazzura, the Florence-based brand that hit headlines in May for the satin slippers that the Duchess of Sussex (a.k.a. Meghan Markle) wore to her evening wedding celebration, knew this already. In gilded reception rooms overlooking Place Vendôme, the designer Edgardo Osorio displayed snakeskin stilettos in jungle green and mango yellow, flat ocher suede tassel sandals covered in baby shells, and jewel-tone pumps finished with fringed petals and encrusted diamanté accents.
And then there was Fabrizio Viti, the Italian who has lived in Paris since becoming head designer for women’s footwear for Louis Vuitton (well, you would, wouldn’t you?).
This season he called his namesake collection “Hello Shoes!” Though it would have been more accurate to say “Hello PVC knee-high boots with drawstrings at the ankle and knee, color-blocked block-toe pumps and white sliders with gold flowers.”
“Long ago I adopted Paris as my city,” Mr. Viti said. “But Italy will always remain a part of me, my shoes and my identity.”
Next season who knows? Maybe Alessandro Michele will decide Venice is actually the place to be.
