LSS Dispatch: Miniatures, Music, and Making a Fashion Home in Paris
From scented runways to disco crepes and couture denim — Paris Men’s Fashion Week, through my lens
There’s something brewing in fashion’s subconscious. Everyone seems to be obsessed with mini. Tiny denim. Tiny dolls. Tiny, clever clues sewn into big narratives. It’s like a collective return to scale — but smaller.
At Bode, miniature dolls dressed in the SS25 collection stood in formation inside the grand National Opera theatre. Apart from the music we were serenaded with (see Instagram post for more details), it was these dolls like little metaphors for our daily lives (I found my spirit doll in one ready to go to the beach with flowers and a lace top worn over a bikini) that made sense for a Bode spectacle. Aaron and Emily Bode are new parents. Perhaps mini is metaphor. A symbol of shrinking time, attention spans, or just the way you start seeing the world when you're raising someone pocket-sized.
But then I saw it again — in Rkive City’s miniature jeans, scaled down to uncanny perfection. And I started wondering: why are we all looking at small right now?
While queueing for the Hermès show, I bumped into Natasha Sumant, the designer behind Gundi Studios. “It’s a recession trend,” she said dryly. “Smaller scale, smaller samples. Happens every time.”
She's not wrong. In previous economic downturns, particularly during WWII and later during the 1970s oil crisis, fashion houses often turned to smaller toiles or half-scale garments to save fabric while still showcasing design. Clients were shown mini mock-ups, and full versions were made to order. Austerity, but make it chic.
So perhaps this mini-moment is more than a cute gimmick. It’s thrift disguised as tenderness. Nostalgia that fits in the palm of your hand.
Speaking of emotion — I absolutely loved the Kartik Research show. The room was scented, the carpets were from Jaipur Rugs, and that moment when I saw Kartik backstage, surrounded by press — journalists holding out their phones, hanging onto his every word. It reminded me of those iconic backstage moments with Haider Ackermann or Jonathan Anderson. Designers as poets, critics as scribes. I've now been chronicling Kartik's work since Vogue Business and prior to that Vogue India too and this collection felt tighter, more luxe, deeply thought through. Images don't do it justice. The denims, made in collaboration with Rkive City were patchworked, embellished, made couture. As Style Not Come said - “BEAAUUtiful clothes”. You need to experience them up close. Loved the '70s inspirations. Loved the playlist - what a vibe.
Vibes continued well into the night thanks to my half-French, half-Indian friend who hosted me during my trip (how else do you afford four nights in Paris?!). She introduced me to old Alisha Chinai disco tracks — apparently, the sound du jour in French underground parties. “Zindagi Meri Dance Dance” played on repeat while we made tea and debated what French women eat.
Which, by the way, is something I’m now fully obsessed with.
Here’s the cheat sheet I gathered from observing my friend and her extended circle:
— Small portions
— No seconds (unless you’re a guest at someone’s dinner)
— Walk everywhere
— Drink loads of water (never juice, rarely soda)
— Snacking? Non.
— And food is savoured slowly. A crepe could last a day. (And did. I ate the leftovers.)
While all this was happening, 1 Granary posted something interesting: the idea that Paris is quietly becoming fashion’s new epicentre.
It got me thinking. I don’t want this to be true — or rather, I don’t want it to come at the cost of London, which is now my home (for better or worse).
Back when I was a student in London, scoring a fashion week ticket felt electric. I was rejected from the CSM MA show (still not over it), but managed a Burberry invite — so I guess that’s a win? I remember the thrill of seeing Halpern, Kiko... London had a sharpness and energy that felt personal.
But something’s shifted.
From Kiko to Kartik, from the rise of South Asian showrooms to younger labels migrating their showcases — Paris is becoming the place to be taken seriously. It’s no longer just the City of Light. It’s the city of open doors.
The BFC, on the other hand, feels like a closed circuit. Same names. Same parties. Same lists. Maybe the change of guard at the top will open things up. Maybe not. Either way, I’ve been choosing Paris for a while now. And Paris — not so ironically — has chosen me back.
And finally, I’ve built a little network here. Writers, designers, stylists, models. Maybe it’s time for a LSS + Akanksha K Paris event? Stranger things have happened.
Stay tuned.
—A