Top 10 Shows of the Season

LONDON, United Kingdom — From Fendi's dominatrix-inspired collection to Balenciaga's apocalyptic spectacle of a show, another fashion month has drawn to a close. Here, BoF picks the top ten shows of the Autumn/Winter 2020 season.

1. Fendi — designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi, MFW

Fendi Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Silvia Venturini Fendi injected her own personality into the family business in a way that was subtle but striking. By delicately balancing “pleasure” and “pain,” her collection was a tapestry of contrasts.

2. Loewe — designed by Jonathan Anderson, PFW

Loewe Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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The show was so odd but so seductive that it clarified the genius of Jonathan Anderson at Loewe. He claimed he’d never really embraced the brand’s umbilical Spanish cord until this season, when he dived into the archive to explore old garments from the 40s and 50s.

3. Alexander McQueen — designed by Sarah Burton, PFW

Alexander McQueen Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Sarah Burton's ability to winkle glorious oddities out of the swamp of the past means her McQueen collections are never less than dream fodder. The collection confirmed that the power of McQueen continues to lie in the heady suggestion of such otherness.

4. Marc Jacobs — designed by Marc Jacobs, NYFW

Marc Jacobs Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Scaling the heights of American fashion. That’s exactly where Marc Jacobs was headed once again. The presentation was evocative of a past when America was unquestionably Number One, with New York the most dazzling stone in its diadem.

5. Balenciaga — designed by Demna Gvasalia, PFW

Balenciaga Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Balenciaga's signatures were paraded under a low-hung ceiling showing boiling heavens, rushing floods, a temporarily reassuring vision of Planet Earth and then… total eclipse. It was perversely thrilling to see Demna Gvasalia use his powerful fashion platform to stage such a takedown of all that man has wrought.

6. JW Anderson — designed by Jonathan Anderson, LFW

JW Anderson Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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The dialogue between restraint and excess is a major JW Anderson signature. It was all here, plain as the frosting on a cake. As usual, exaggeration was his friend. While many of his extraordinary ensembles made no sense whatsoever, they looked fabulous.

7. Kenzo — designed by Felipe Oliveira Baptista, PFW

Kenzo Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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In his debut, Felipe Oliveira Baptista beautifully evoked the shapes, the colours and the art of Kenzo Takada. The new arrival did a wonderful job of capturing the joy of Kenzo through the 70s and 80s, when his shows were spectacular colourful circuses.

8. Sacai — designed by Chitose Abe, PFW

Sacai Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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A collaboration with NASA was only one of Sacai’s new adventures in the sci-fi zone. Chitose Abe said there was also an experiment in the Fourth Dimension... the way the clothes moved through time. Never mind the quantum physics, it was beautiful.

9. Moncler Genius — MFW

Moncler Genius Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Remo Ruffini's plan to keep Moncler relevant by constantly reimagining the brand with a cast of guest designers created a show that was gigantic and grandiose. What stood out was JW Anderson's non-binary vision as well as Alyx's garment-dyed urban wear.

10. Paco Rabanne — designed by Julien Dossena, PFW

Paco Rabanne Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV

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Julien Dossena’s Paco Rabanne evolved a great deal this season, doing away with all the futuristic hardness of the past to embrace frothy romance and a sense of radical craft. It was a bit McQueen at times, but one of the most enchanting visions of the season.

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