‘It is not a grand finale’: Inside Dries Van Noten’s final show in Paris

Just before eight o’clock yesterday evening (22 June 2024) a flurry of black cars made their way out of Paris towards the northern suburb of St Denis, where a vast former factory had been transformed for Dries Van Noten’s final runway collection. Earlier this year, the Belgian designer – first known for being part of the avant-garde Antwerp Six which rose to prominence in the early 1990s – announced he would be stepping away from his label after 38 years at the helm.

Entering the space, an enormous cube-like structure flickered through clips from Van Noten’s 128 previous runway shows (the final collection would be his 129th), alongside clips of the designer working with his atelier and team. Around it milled the show’s guests, each there to pay homage to the designer’s acclaimed career. They included fellow Antwerp Six designers Ann Demeulemeester and Walter Van Beirendonck, former Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, Hermès’ Véronique Nichanian, American designer Thom Browne, and milliner Stephen Jones, among others.

Inside Dries Van Noten’s last runway show

In the second room – revealed with the opening of a floor-to-ceiling black curtain – was a long, silver foil runway. It was here that Van Noten would stage his last runway show, drafting models past and present to wear the collection’s 70 looks. ‘[Some of these models] have been with us since the earliest shows, like family; their presence marking the passage of time,’ said Van Noten. They included Hannelore Knuts, Kirsten Owens, Malgosia Bela, Debra Shaw, Malick Bodian, Jonas Gloer and Alain Gossuin, who opened the show, their footsteps causing the foil to drift away from the runway in delicate floating shards.

The passing of time – perhaps inevitably – was the central theme of the collection, with Van Noten drawing inspiration from the work of Belgian conceptual artist Edith Dekyndt. Though her oeuvre is wide, much of her work centres on transforming everyday objects by exposing them to water, chemicals or air over time, a process she often documents in photographs and film. As such, Van Noten spoke of a desire to make pieces feel lived in – fabrics included softly worn herringbone, linen and cotton drill – while techniques like Japanese suminagashi, a type of marbling, were evoked to celebrate processes which take time and patience.

‘Before a piece of clothing is worn, it is encoded with stories. When design comes from a personal place, every detail and decision is meaningful,’ he said via the collection’s accompanying notes. ‘[This collection] is a continuum of connection, encompassing ideas developed from classical to innovative; attesting to craft and colour; and ultimately, providing a relaxed yet elegant way of dressing. Clothes that move through life with us, carrying us forward.’

Of the collection’s silhouette, Van Noten drew on classic sartorial pieces, like the tuxedo jacket, which here was elongated to the ankle – an expression of the designer’s louche, romantic line. Other pieces showed a mastery of texture and colour, from the plasticky candy wrapper-like fabrics, which made up billowing parkas and shirts, to the molten metallics used across the collection’s final looks. The palette shifted from grey, ecru, navy and black towards richly expressive shades of burgundy, pink, peach, lime green and turquoise.

The show ended with an ebullient standing ovation as Van Noten walked out to take his final bow. And, though emotion was high, the mood was celebratory, epitomised by the reveal of a giant disco ball as the designer exited the runway to the euphoric sounds of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. After the show, the party went on into the night.

‘This is my 129th show; like the previous ones, it looks ahead. Tonight is many things, but it is not a grand finale,’ said Van Noten. ‘I think about how Marcelo Mastroianni once spoke of a paradoxical “Nostalgia del futuro,” beyond the lost paradises imagined by Proust, and how we continue to pursue our dreams knowing that, at some point, we can look back on them with love.’

‘I love my job, I love doing fashion shows, and sharing fashion with people,’ he continued. ‘Creating is about leaving something that lives on. My sense of this moment is how it is not only mine, but ours, always.’

Discover more from Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2025.

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