What Objectively Happened At Probably The Most Important Paris Fashion Week Of Our Lifetime

Analyzing four of Paris Fashion Week's creative director debuts. Using data, of course.

By the time you’re reading this, likely the most highly anticipated fashion month of our lifetime has finally come to a close. This Spring 2026 runway season in Paris, we saw an unprecedented number of creative directors make their debuts at some of fashion’s biggest global brands—Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Loewe. And that’s not even the whole list.

So, as the industry witnessed a big reshuffling of talent and watched a monumental reset unfold, what happened? Naturally, after years of analyzing fashion through the lens of data and analytics, let’s take a look at the numbers to unpack and make sense of all the buzz. What objectively occurred this Paris Fashion Week?

AND THE PARIS FASHION WEEK WINNER IS…

Perhaps the four most highly anticipated creative director debuts this Paris Fashion Week were Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough’s debut at Loewe, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut at Balenciaga, Jonathan Anderson’s womenswear debut at Dior, and Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel. And similarly to how I analyzed the creative director debuts at Milan Fashion Week across three metrics—reach, sentiment, and engagement—let’s do the same for Paris.

In terms of reach, or which brand saw the greatest total number of posts published about their debut, Chanel was the winner. I found there were around 7% more online posts and press published mentioning Chanel than the other debuts on average. And, just like how Gucci’s debut had the largest reach in Milan, this makes sense. Chanel is perhaps the most prominently known brand of the four. It also has the largest social following—nearly 60 million followers on Instagram compared to Dior’s 47 million, Balenciaga’s 15 million, and Loewe’s almost 7 million.

Seeing more people post about Chanel also highlights that it was likely the most anticipated creative director debut of the season, if not the past year. Chanel was top of mind for fashion aficionados and general consumers alike, as the brand’s debut dominated coverage online. Well done, Matthieu.

In terms of sentiment, which refers to the average positivity of the language in each post, Loewe took the crown. And this is an interesting metric to unpack. Most fashion fanatics are quite familiar with Loewe. However, Loewe is still somewhat of a niche brand with a smaller yet highly enthusiastic following.

The data highlights that, for Loewe’s target consumer, the new collection was very positively received. New co-creative directors, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, created a fluid and powerful continuation of what the Loewe consumer wanted and perhaps expected. And that’s good news for Loewe.

Lastly, in terms of engagement, or whose online posts generated the highest number of comments and shares and reposts on average, Dior won by a mile. Jonathan Anderson’s womenswear debut at the brand was heavily discussed and dissected. Some people loved it, while others had differing reactions. Regardless, it caused a lot of conversation—around 147% more engagement than the other debuts on average, to be exact.

Anderson had somewhat of an impossible job, becoming the first sole creative director across all Dior’s divisions—womenswear, menswear, haute couture—since Christian Dior himself. The pressure to deliver was monumental. I’m not sure what Anderson, or any creative director for that matter, could’ve shown that would not have resulted in differing opinions. And, at the end of the day, it is beautiful and valuable when fashion gets so many people talking.

WHAT ABOUT BALENCIAGA?

So, that leaves Balenciaga. What happened there? Balenciaga’s debut not resulting in a win across these three categories doesn’t mean it didn’t receive a positive reaction or cause important conversation. It just didn’t cause as much conversation as Dior, and received more differing reactions compared to Loewe. And, as a smaller brand than Chanel, it’s also natural it didn’t result in as many posts or as much press.

But Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Balenciaga debut was overall quite positively received. We saw the brand’s iconic city bags make their way down the runway, nods to founder Cristóbal Balenciaga’s couture silhouettes, and a strong continuation of the brand’s modern ready-to-wear.

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Plus, Piccioli’s Balenciaga received a standing ovation from none other than Anna Wintour, who has famously been a fan of his work. She also gave him standing ovations at his Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 couture shows for Valentino, meaning he’s likely gotten more standing ovations from Wintour than any other designer in the past five years.
Granted, Wintour also stood at Loewe’s debut and at Chanel’s. So I’ll have to update the above graph.

It’s also possible that, given Piccioli’s incredible couture work during his time at Valentino, his true power at the helm of Balenciaga—whose origins are so strongly rooted in couture—might be further revealed at couture week. It’ll be exciting to see.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR FASHION?

As I’ve previously written, leading up to this fashion month, it seemed like the industry was holding its breath. Knowing many of fashion’s biggest players would be undergoing a reset, some other brands momentarily stuck to simplicity—monochrome looks in earth tones, familiar styles like suiting and tailoring—while waiting to see where the fashion industry would go from here.

Of course, there isn’t just one answer. Loewe’s collection showed rigid silhouettes in a combination of primary colors. Balenciaga’s displayed lots of leather and big sunglasses and a balance between maximalism and minimalism. Jonathan Anderson’s Dior felt somewhat more formal, filled with nods to Dior’s history and the creative directors who came before him.

At Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel debut, however, which marked the end of Paris Fashion Week, something a bit different happened. Blazy’s clothes—flowing with textures and powerful movement and bold pops of color—set a new, refreshing tone across the industry.

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Model Awar Odhiang closing the Chanel runway with a smile, clapping her hands and dancing before hugging Blazy as he took his bow, was a beautiful moment to witness. And, it seemed like a sign that a weight was being lifted from the fashion industry’s shoulders. The new Chanel Blazy displayed feels powerful and unrestrained and unafraid, and that’s quite an exciting foundation to set for fashion—and for womenswear—moving forward.

IN CONCLUSION…

Loewe was bold and colorful. Dior was historical and intentional. Balenciaga was edgy and refreshing, and Chanel was powerful and free. Regardless of which debut was your favorite, watching so many brands reinforce that clothing has power and meaning—in telling a story, in how it can make you feel—is optimistic to see. And it’ll be exciting to follow how these brands, as well as others, build on this foundation moving forward.