Celebrities and designers under fire for attending Paris Fashion Week amid riots: ‘Inconsiderate’

‘It’s crazy how Paris is having riots on one side of town and Fashion Week on the other side of town,’ one critic says

Celebrities and designers are being called out for attending and hosting Paris Fashion Week’s couture shows amid ongoing nationwide protests over the fatal police shooting of a teenager.

This week, a number of famous faces made appearances in the French capital, including Cardi B, who sat front row alongside Tracee Ellis Ross at the Schiaparelli fashion show, Camila Cabello and Maisie Williams, who attended the Iris Van Herpen show on Monday, and Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, who walked in Simon Porte Jacquemus’ latest runway show.

However, the influx of celebrities in Paris, and the designers’ decision to continue with the scheduled shows, has sparked criticism from many, as it coincides with civil unrest in France over the death of 17-year-old Nahel M, who was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop.

The protests, which have been going on for nearly a week, have centered around nationwide concern about police brutality. On Saturday, the 17 year old was laid to rest in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where he had been killed days earlier after he was pulled over for breaking traffic rules.

Following Saturday’s funeral, more than 700 people were arrested as police fired tear gas and fought street battles with protestors in Marseilles.

“Am I the only one who is kind of shocked that fashion week is still happening in Paris during these protests? Odd scrolling and going from Schiaparelli to videos of France burning…” one person tweeted.

Another said: “It’s crazy how Paris is having riots on one side of town and Fashion Week on the other side of town.”

Someone else called out the “tone-deafness” of the designers and celebrities to continue with Paris Fashion Week despite the ongoing unrest.

“It is kinda weirdo behaviour to keep doing couture week as Paris literally riots and burns. Seems to just feed into the tone deafness and look the other way of the general ‘elite’ as they flock to shows with dresses that cost tens of thousands of dollars and brand parties,” they wrote.

Designer Hedi Slimane, who planned to unveil his spring 2024 men’s collection for Celine on Sunday before the show was cancelled, was among those critical of the designers who decided to go ahead with their couture shows.

“Due to the events of recent days and to avoid any potential risk for the safety of our guests and our team, we regret to inform you that we are cancelling the Celine Homme summer 2024 show, which was due to be held at La Gaité Lyrique this Sunday,” the brand said in an email to guests, according to WWD.

Over the weekend, Slimane addressed the decision on his Instagram, where he wrote in part: “Having a fashion show in Paris, while France and its capital are bereaved and bruised, from my point of view alone, seems inconsiderate and totally out of place.”

In addition to Celine, Chloé cancelled an event on Friday celebrating Karl Lagerfeld, with WWD reporting the brand cited “the current situation in Paris”.

However, some attendees have defended their attendance at the shows amid the growing unease, with fashion influencer Masoom Minawala Mehta telling her more than 1.3 million Instagram followers that she decided to go to Paris Fashion Week “because frankly it’s an important season for me,” according to Rolling Stone.

According to the outlet, which described influencers as being “mildly inconvenienced” by the current political unrest in Paris, influencer and writer Susie Bubble also briefly addressed the situation on Instagram, where she wrote: “Cavalcade of police vehicles heading presumably towards Paris burbs,”before noting that “the rioting may have quelled by the underlying root causes…need to be addressed”.

However, Rolling Stone reports that Bubble followed the post on her Instagram Stories with one of the views from her hotel room.

Apart from Celine, the 32 fashion houses that are scheduled to reveal their fall 2023 collections in the French capital this week have continued as normal.