The best invites of this fashion season

Each fashion show brings with it the right amount of hype, and it all starts with the invitation, that letter which, arriving a few days before the event, can raise the expectations of both the fashion industry audience and enthusiasts observing from the sidelines. Not everyone can participate in the Fashion Week, despite the existence of a true black market for accreditations, but now every detail is within reach of followers, with the exception of the latest presentation by The Row. This winter too, the fashion show season has brought with it an endless list of unconventional invites, a collection of objects and concepts that broadly reflect the inspirations of recent fashion collections. If in the past we were amazed by the ideas of Diesel, which used a collaboration with Durex to stress the importance of sexual protection, or Fendi, which honored its Italian roots by sending packages of Rummo pasta, or even Jacquemus, which sent loaves of bread, this time we had fun with Lacoste and Balenciaga.

To access the Dries Van Noten show, on stage Wednesday, February 28, at Paris Fashion Week, guests had to present a white envelope to the PR. Inside, not only a ticket with the formal wording of the show, but a lock of hair attached with tape, referring to the title of the FW24 presentation, The woman who dared to cut her own bangs. While Dries Van Noten focused on surprise, Balenciaga plunged headlong into the world of online buying and selling. The maison, which paraded on the morning of March 3, attached items purchased on eBay to each invitation. A joke that had nothing to do with the collection, it recounted the brand's rediscovered ironic spirit like Gucci, which prepared a red Ancora notebook with gold engraving “Follow your heart” above the guest's initials as a testimony to the romantic sentimentalism of the maison's new artistic direction, and Bottega Veneta, which instead created a forest green leather bracelet with a round pendant engraved in gold and silver.

While older fashion houses dedicate their invites to the timeless and undeniably refined roots of their ateliers, younger brands, or at least those participating in Fashion Week for less time, leave room for functionality and surprise. Marine Serre, an English and independent brand that this season spoke of a fashion for everyday life, from outings to the pizzeria to those to the supermarket, gave a tote bag designed specifically for the commissions of mundane life. Lacoste, on the other hand, a French brand whose history is deeply linked to the sport of tennis and which has only participated in Paris Fashion Week with presentations and shows for a few years, announced the show date by sending a “slice” of tennis net. Whether you like it or not, the invitation is now part of the experience as much as the show itself, an additional opportunity for fashion houses to attract attention on social media as on the catwalk.