Paris Fashion Week FW22 Trends: The 5 Biggest Looks On The Runway – Fashion Trends & Style Advice

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As fashion month comes to a close, the fate of the Paris Fashion Week’s top trends has been finalized. Paris Fashion Week marks the end of the Fall/Winter 2022 Ready to Wear collections shown across this Fashion Month, and with shows from Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Valentino, PFW always have a way of feeling monumental. Of course, this season was no exception. 

The week’s most striking highs were built on deep lows. There was a powerful Balenciaga runway show where designer Demna Gvasalia dedicated the production to the plight of refugees amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There was also an emotional showing of the late Virgil Abloh’s final collection for Off-White. While fashion trends can feel insignificant against the backdrop of heartbreak and crisis, Abloh in particular always threaded resilience, joy, and a great appreciation for detail throughout this collections. Without even being present, he set the tone for the week. 

Whether it was intentional or not, many brands followed suit and honed in on the details this season. Subtle trends emerged, the kind that will be more noticeable over an intimate lunch with your most stylish friend than spotted while scrolling your Instagram feed. 

The overall shape of the collections remained historically Parisian with suiting sets, tweed jackets (Cough, Chanel, cough) and striking evening wear. Notable trends emerged in the final touches: Coperni and Gauchére were amongst a few brands to experiment with oblique cut-outs, adding unexpected shape to otherwise simple black ensembles. Likewise, Balmain took its classic strong-shouldered jackets and grazed them with a feather trim. 

Amongst the feathers and cut-outs, it would be easy to miss the re-emergence of knit thigh-high socks, perhaps the season’s most unexpected comeback trend. Hermés and Chanel both featured the school girl-inspired socks underneath equestrian knee-high boots—a trend that is sure to be keeping us all a bit warmer come fall. 

And we’re going to need the extra warmth, because Miu Miu’s viral mini skirt from the previous Spring/Summer ’22 collection still reigns supreme. Miu Miu continued the trend with a tennis skirt twist, and look-alike versions popped up in many shows throughout the week.

If a brand showed a mini skirt, you could expect futuristic Balenciaga-inspired sunglasses to be styled with it. Rounded, sporty sunglass styles were all over the runway, not to mention turning heads in street style imagery. The only person who seems to be sticking to a classic sunglass shape these days is Ms. Anna Wintour herself.

Below, read on for the biggest trends from Paris Fashion Week you’ll want to sport next season. 

Chanel; Hermés; Louise Lyngh Bjerregard/iMaxTree.

Knee-high  and thigh-high socks haven’t been in style since the early 2000s, so it’s about time they made a comeback. The style is an obvious supplement for the return of the mini skirt trend—something needs to keep your bare legs warm when the temperature drops.

Elie Saab; Germanier; Balmain/iMaxTree.

Feathers have been the global star of every fashion week runway this year. While we saw head-to-toe feather looks in New York, Paris took a more subtle approach by adding the textured fluff as trim for collars, sleeves and skirts. Elie Saab presented a rare casual approach to the trend with a leather set, while Balmain took the look to the office with a tailored skirt set.

Miu Miu; Ester Manas; Courreges/iMaxTree.

The mini skirt is officially here to stay, with pleated, ruffled and leather versions dominating the Paris runways. Courreges took the opportunity to remind us that the mini skirt has strong origins with the brand (peep the history of the mini here) by presenting multiple tiny leather versions in this collection.

Gauchére; Ester Manas; Coperni/iMaxTree.

Oblique cutouts are the new (and easiest) way to achieve an hourglass figure. Designers like Gauchére, Ester Manas and Coperni cut the waist out of the majority of silhouettes. The cut-out is impactful, but remains tasteful, as there is no risk of a wardrobe malfunction.

Acne Studios; Dior; Balenciaga/iMaxTree.

The Balenciaga models braved inclement weather by walking through a synthetic snowstorm in futuristic shield sunglasses. In more temperate conditions, the quirky, sporty style was also picked up by designers like Dior and Acne Studios to give classic looks an unexpected twist.