Paris hands out its slots: 68 shows, two debuts and loud comebacks

The official Paris Fashion Week calendar is out, and it already tells you what the season will look like. From September 28 to October 6 there will be 68 shows and 33 presentations. A year earlier: 74 and 37. Fashion is shrinking slightly — just not where the customer notices.

Last season went down in history for an unprecedented wave of debuts, with almost every major house walking out a new creative director. This time there are only two premieres. On September 30 at 10:30am, Drew Henry shows his first collection as Courrèges’s artistic director. On October 1 at 12:30pm it is Kai Nesselrath, Carven’s new design director.

In exchange, the absentees are back. Valentino, which showed its fall 2026 collection in Rome, returns to Paris. So does Maison Margiela, whose last collection was staged in Shanghai. Add Sacai, Ester Manas, Christopher Esber and Casablanca.

The heavy artillery is in place: Dior, Saint Laurent, Chanel, Tom Ford, Dries Van Noten, Balenciaga, Loewe, Celine, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton. One detail stands out — Alaïa holds a presentation on October 3 with a collection designed by the studio, because the house still has no creative director after Pieter Mulier left for Versace early this year.

Joining the official schedule for the first time is Maxhosa Africa, the South African label founded by Laduma Ngxokolo, whose pieces have been worn by Beyoncé and Michelle Obama. New to the presentation calendar: Alexandra Golovanoff, the Parisian designer and journalist who launched her cashmere line in 2016, and Fidan Novruzova, a Central Saint Martins graduate with Azerbaijani roots and a Moldovan upbringing, an LVMH Prize semi-finalist in 2024.

Who is missing: McQueen goes home to London, now under Seán McGirr and newly appointed CEO Gianfranco D’Attis. Rabanne skips the season because Olivier Rousteing’s debut is set for March. Also absent are Nina Ricci, whose creative director Harris Reed stepped down in March 2026, and Off-White.