London vs. Paris Fashion Week

A fashion week face-off!

The frosty winter months of February and March only mean one thing to the stylish elite: Fashion Week! For four consecutive weeks editors, buyers, influencers, street style photographers, bloggers, style conscious celebrities and the cool crowd flock to ‘the big four’ fashion capitals of the world: New York, London, Milan and Paris to discover next seasons’ trends.

As London Fashion Week begins and with Paris about to kick off in a few weeks Stylight have been inspired by Vahram Muratyan’s cult book designs to create a visual comparison of the two most iconic fashion weeks.

As you can see there are distinct differences…

between the two cities. Paris traditionally is a city steeped in fashion history, home to a whole host of the premier fashion houses that have existed for decades such as Chanel, Balmain and Yves Saint Laurent. Launched in 1973 Paris Fashion Week is a luxury institution attended by the crème de la crème of fashion editors who descent upon the city of love’s picturesque boulevards and grandiose buildings to see fashion at it’s finest.

In contrast London Fashion Week is far more irreverent, carefree and really looks to harness young talent. As Alexa Chung stated 'London Fashion Week is so different from any of the others… London seems freer from commercial constraints. Truer to the process, to street style, to a sense of humour.’  Launched 11 years after Paris, London Fashion Week thrives on innovation and pushing style boundaries and it’s in here where people can really express themselves.

London has a far edgier feel…

while Paris is more refined and elegant. London girls team a head-to-toe Burberry look with Adidas Stan Smiths while, across the channel, they wouldn’t be seen dead without their trusty heels. London Fashion Week also takes place in a variety of effortlessly hip, off-site locations such as the Brewer Street Car Park where designers showcase their collections to the likes of Brit babes Alexa Chung, Suki Waterhouse and Pixie Geldof. The FROW in Paris, in contrast, is largely made up of the top fashion editors sporting their classic red lipstick and Chanel handbags.

And the similarities? Both love to rock this season's it-bag the Gucci Dionysus, both cicites love an alcoholic pick me up and both travel to the show by Uber - bien sur!