Is fashion still subversive? The answer is yes, with the extraordinarily named Matières Fécales label. At Yohji Yamamoto, it's yes, but more delicately. Satoshi Kondo for Issey Miyake, meanwhile, advocates for movement without constraints. Historian-performer Olivier Saillard elevates everyday clothing with his Living Fashion Museum. Lilia Litkovska, from Ukraine, draws inspiration from her war-torn country. And Ludovic Winterstan, for La Fabrique Nomade, believes it's high time we accepted each other, wherever our country of origin.

Wars, conflicts, the rise of populism, and the meteoric advance of artificial intelligence – in a world full of uncertainty, how and why can we continue to create new fashion collections? Students from the French Fashion Institute (IFM), along with emerging designers Weinsanto, Pressiat, Maitrepierre, and Alain Paul, share their perspectives. As Xavier Romatet, IFM’s Director General, says: fashion should show the world not as it is, but as we would like it to be.

Across the discipline, designers are breathing fresh perspectives into Haute Couture. Kevin Germanier repurposes Berluti outfits worn by the French Olympic team. Stéphane Rolland encourages model Farnoush Hamidian to talk out about her native Iran. Julien Fournié extols the virtues of diversity. Yuima Nakazato battles AI with dresses made of ceramics. Charlie le Mindu makes masterpieces from hair. Finally, Imane Ayissi expresses his African identity through an unveiling of the creative process. 

For some designers, fashion is less about clothes themselves, and more about what those clothes can convey. They see fashion as primarily a political endeavour, a means of challenging a status quo that too often seeks to erase the individual for the alleged benefit of the social order. They champion diversity, gender fluidity and disruption. Jeanne Friot, Walter van Beirendonck, Ahmed Hassan, Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, Yohji Yamamoto and Willy Chavarria are among the group's most outspoken voices. FRANCE 24 checks out their latest collections.

This special report zooms in on the smaller fashion houses that sparkled during Paris Fashion Week. Vincent Pressiat, like Victor Weinsanto, looked to the past, when the king's favourites ruled the roost. Alain Paul recalled his first auditions as a young dancer. Ukrainian Lilia Litkovska is still designing, despite the war. Last but not least, Afro-Caribbean designers were celebrated at the Paris edition of Togo's International Fashion Festival.

Raising awareness about the fragility of our oceans, our land and our Indigenous heritage is the challenge facing a new generation of couturiers. For autumn-winter 2025/26, Iris van Herpen has created a living dress, Imane Ayissi wants the Earth to regenerate naturally, Grace Lillian Lee is celebrating her Australian ancestors and Stéphane Rolland has opened up a dialogue with music. As for Clara Daguin, her motto is: if you want to save others, first save yourself.

Whether it involves making space for the trans community, raising awareness about conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, expressing their distrust of conventional conservative attitudes or funding scientific research that has nothing to do with the fashion industry, Jeanne Friot, Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Walter van Beirendonck and Agnès b. are all deeply committed to their causes. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

To create a fashion collection, you need three key elements: silhouette, colour, material – be it for clothes or accessories. Yet these ingredients are lifeless without the discourse and the incredible stories that transform them into objects of desire. Stories told with sincerity, from Marine Serre’s Lynchian ambitions to Lilia Litkovska’s resolve to work while the bombs are falling; Fashion Week’s top prize goes to Yohji Yamamoto for his flights of fancy.

Togo's International Fashion Festival has chosen a topical theme for its twelfth edition: the fight against cancer. The issue may not appear glamorous, but the alarming rise in cancer rates makes it extremely relevant. Jacques Logoh, the festival's founder, believes that fashion must help raise awareness of the disease, with prevention as its watchword. As such, some 40 designers from 25 countries are showing off their artisanal and fashion expertise at the event. FRANCE 24 went to check it out.

The collective show from the international students of the Institut Français de la Mode kicks off the autumn-winter 2025/26 presentations and asks contemporary questions. How can a disruptive society impact a creative process that is seeped in societal evolutions such as artificial intelligence? Meanwhile, Victor Weinsanto defends trans people, Vincent Pressiat celebrates Pierre Soulages and Maria Grazia Chiuri celebrates Bob Wilson's phantasmagorical vision at Dior.

What do designers Olivier Saillard, Kevin Germanier, Stéphane Rolland, Khol by Hamza Guelmouss and Valentin Nicot as well as Julien Fournié all have in common? They are reinventing the notion of haute couture, often in an artistic, aesthetic way, while being mindful of environmental issues and respectful of their elders. It's a question of playful modernisation; a snapshot of a politically-conscious world. FRANCE 24 takes you to check out the summer 2025 collections.