Thom Browne to show couture in Paris this July

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jun 1, 2023

The house of Thom Browne will stage its debut haute couture show in Paris in July, the latest American couturier to take a jump into the French season.

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The show, whose date is not yet confirmed, will include both women’s and menswear, and celebrate the designer’s 20th anniversary.
 
Browne has frequently staged elaborate shows with technically demanding clothes that merited the couture category. But this is the first time he will stage a collection that can be properly classified as haute couture, staged on fashion’s most prestigious stage – the Paris collections.

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A spokesperson for the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, French fashion’s governing body which organizes all seasons in Paris, confirmed that Browne had been accepted onto the official calendar for the next season, which is scheduled from July 3 to 6. Entrance onto the official calendar requires the approval of a committee made up of senior executives in historic couture houses such as Chanel and Christian Dior.
 
The only other American couturier currently showing in Paris is Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli.
 
Browne has been showing menswear in Paris for over a decade, though he generally stages his women’s ready-to-wear collections in New York. Presented in theatrical settings with grandiose sets, Browne's runway displays in New York are very much must-see affairs. His most recent show, an homage to Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s The Little Prince, featured a set inside The Shed in Hudson Yards centered around a mock bi-plane, and was generally regarded as the highpoint of New York Fashion Week in February.
 
It also marked Browne’s first season as the new president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, succeeding Tom Ford. His decision is in effect a remarkable coup for the Federation, and Paris, confirming the French capital’s status as prima inter pares, first among equals, when it comes to international fashion weeks.
 
Though Browne says all his collections are based on the simple concept of the junior executive’s gray flannel suit, he is capable of great flights of fancy in his fashion. Besides his signature little boy flannel suits; the Browne DNA includes cricket blazers; bouclé wool coats; red and blue stripes; striped ties; banker pinstripes and pleated skirts. WASP fantasy – with hints of faintly naughty sexual deviancy - at its best.
 
News of the move was first reported by Italian daily MFF Fashion in a story by Chiara Bottoni and Stefano Roncato. Though based in New York, Browne is majority-owned by the Italian fashion and textile group Zegna, which acquired an 85% stake in August 2018.