The Barney Award For Best Use Of Purple & 12 More SS27 Fashion Month Superlatives

The phrase “Villian Teen” was all over Alessandro Michele’s Resort 2027 collection for Valentino and made us scratch our head (is it a play on Valentino? Is it a Marvel costume-design bid?). Of course Weaving was brave enough to not only wear the scuba-style top, but to Paris Fashion Week, where playing it safe is the name of the game.

We kept seeing purple pop up in New York, then in London, and by Milan, we knew it was one of the colors of the season. This lilac skirt and aubergine hat from Bottega Veneta, though, takes the cake for the best way to incorporate multiple It shades in one look.

The Gucci show twisted prep and street with ease (as is Demna’s signature), and the most fun looks included a huge swipe of monochromatic eyeshadow by makeup artist Sam Visser. We’re partial to this Yves Klein blue, which we can’t wait to try for our next event (or casual Friday, tbh).

Another head-scratcher came in the form of this dress, which immediately had us asking “How is that staying up?” Props to Burton for making metal look so feather-light.

This might not come as a surprise given the brand has won this superlative in seasons past, but when designer Anthony Vaccarello celebrates a decade (and a rumored departure) with a gold colelction and gold chandeliers under a golden, twinkling Eiffel Tower, the girls are bound to show up. And show up they did, from longtime friends of the brand like Zoë Kravitz, Rosé, and Gabbriette to legends like Betty Catroux, Jerry Hall, Catherine Deneuve, and Donatella Versace. It was the see-and-be-seen way to start the week, and the all-black dress code definitely factored into this decision.

Bright hues were all over the runways, but nowhere more convincing than Vaquera during Paris, where it was not only effectively used to shock up a muted color palette in the form of a bow or handbag, but for the finale where designers Patric Dicaprio and Bryn Taubensee turned miles of electric fabric into decadent, straight-up freaky party dresses. It’s silly yet deathly serious fashion, which excites us more than anything else.

Tougaard is not new to this, nor did she walk the most shows this season, but she earns top marks here for securing a few closing spots (at The Attico, Fendi, Isabel Marant, and Max Mara) and being chameleonic yet keeping her signature cool-girl attitude alive.

We wrote about A Letter as one of the brands to watch this year, and its debut show at London Fashion Week delivered and then some. The deceivingly simple dresses and skirts were expertly draped to add 3D motion and provide ease of movement — hence why the official runway pictures are so kinetic. The clothes are directional yet ultimately super wearable and desirable. That combination will surely have retailers, editors, and It girls clamoring for the designs.

You can call her a wife but don’t call her traditional. Smith hasn’t done Fashion Month as fiercely as she did this season, popping out at Calvin Klein Collection in an underwear-band dress, a faux-fur-trimmed skirt at Magda Butrym, in another equally great skirt at Prada, and in a sexy le smoking suit from Saint Laurent. She proved her versatility (and desirability) with her biggest season to date.

We clocked aqua blue as a must-have summer color, and if you were an early investor, you’re in luck: It’s not going anywhere. This season, though, the oddly pleasing, safari-lite combination of beiges, khakis, and greens lent a welcome contrast to the color. This Celine boot-belt situation was one of our personal favorites, and it also showed up at Collina Strada, Fendi, Loewe, and MM6 Maison Margiela.

In a sea of defined coifs and intricate ‘dos, the Prada show’s hair stood out for its relatability and the way it balanced the prim femininity of the 63 skirts that walked the show. More of this (read: unfussy hair) for 2027.

A running joke in TikTok comments on influencers’ video wearing hats says “This hat is not for beginners,” and it’s true: Some hats are not for the faint of heart. The most exciting one we saw all week was at Junya Watanabe, modeled by Ciara, which was a chandelier-cum-tiara that was just plain fun.

Ojuromi made waves online after taking inspiration from Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Metiers d’Arts 2025 collection and recreating several looks in the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, eventually catching the attention of Blazy himself. Instead of just admiring her from afar, though, Blazy brought her into his world with a spot in his lineup. She rocked the runway and made it look easy, bringing a taste of Africa and her style to Paris.