5 brands to watch at Paris Fashion Week SS27 We are ready for the return of surrealism, humor and sarcasm on the runway
The last week, the most anticipation-laden of Fashion Month, is here. Paris Fashion Week kicks off today, inaugurated by none other than the LVMH Prize 2026 winner, Julie Kegels. The French capital's calendar is packed with compelling names, both at the creative helm of the biggest Maisons — such as the now widely celebrated Jonathan Anderson at Christian Dior and Matthieu Blazy at Chanel — and leading independent labels, as is the case with Kegels, Ester Manas, Niccolò Pasqualetti and Marie Adam-Leenaerdt. This season too, Paris is not short on gossip, with rumours circulating that Anthony Vaccarello and Chemena Kamali have delivered their final collections for Saint Laurent and Chloé, respectively.
But let's set the rumours aside for a moment and take a look at the 5 brands we can't wait to follow this week.
Julie Kegels
Belgian designer Julie Kegels will have the honour of opening Paris Fashion Week this afternoon. Winner of the LVMH Prize 2026 — one of the industry's most prestigious (and most lucrative) awards — Kegels graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and launched her eponymous brand in 2024. In just two years, the designer has managed to establish herself in Paris with collections that challenge the representation of femininity in luxury fashion. Elegance and irony merge in Kegels's designs, which bring unconventional looks and a magnetic narrative to the runway.
Hodakova
Hodakova, founded by Ellen Hodakova, is one of the most exciting independent brands in Paris, alongside Julie Kegels. Like her peer, Hodakova consistently brings looks to the runway that stimulate the mind, with references to the natural world (the designer grew up among horses in the Swedish countryside) that lend personality to the archetypes of the female wardrobe, alongside the use of truly unexpected deadstock materials (rugs, hair, forks) to create full looks. Surrealist and nonconformist, collection after collection Hodakova is expanding her fanbase — most recently joined by John Malkovich, who wore one of the designer's looks in Venice.
Dries Van Noten
Julian Klausner is a master of colour — much like his former boss, who was none other than Dries Van Noten himself. The creative director, who has held the role for two years now, reaffirms his thorough understanding of the Van Noten universe with each passing season. And the fact that every look seems hand-painted, with bucolic prints and sorbet-hued palettes that evoke oil paintings or watercolours, isn't even the most interesting part of his work. Klausner's magic lies in his orchestration of different fabrics and textures — a feat that brings to Fashion Week the kind of refined maximalism that, amid all this black-and-white minimalism, is genuinely needed.
Jean Paul Gaultier
Maximalism is also the name of the game when it comes to the new Jean Paul Gaultier, now in the hands of creative director Duran Lantink. Humorous, outrageous and unhinged, the Dutch designer has shown real courage at his first shows for the brand, with looks that transformed anatomical representation into an exercise in sartorial sarcasm. Who knows how Lantink will surprise us this time — whether with further extremisations of the human body or with a send-up of the most elegant eveningwear.
Marie Adam-Leenaerdt
Marie Adam-Leenaerdt's talent was officially recognised by the fashion industry this summer, when the designer won the prestigious ANDAM Prize. The designer is remarkably young: she graduated in 2020 from the National School of Fine Arts La Cambre and, after working in the ateliers of Balenciaga and Givenchy, launched her own brand in Paris in 2023. In just a few years, her name has become one of the most anticipated on the Fashion Week calendar, thanks to collections featuring multifunctional looks and a creative approach that prioritises durability over trends.