Sore feet, long stretches without food or water, horrendous traffic, the heart-sinking panic of being late to a show — the “no” side is always plenteous. And yet, somehow, the answer keeps coming out “yes.” Despite the stress and prep work involved in attending fashion week as a team of one (me!) and a half (my husband, who bears part of the emotional and logistical weight of my passion), working late and constantly, I can’t resist the potential of discovering something — or someone — new. Science tells us that even the act of exposing ourselves to something novel triggers a dopamine response, and there’s nothing that fires up that neurotransmitter in my brain quite like fashion week. 

Sometimes, the discovery happens on the runways. Sometimes, it happens before. Specifically, when I’m planning my looks. A sizable part of attending this biannual celebration of fashion is the ritual of getting dressed for it. For people like me, dressing up is one of life’s greatest joys — and there’s perhaps no better occasion to maximize that joy than fashion week, when everyone else is doing the same. Going back to science, “enclothed cognition” explains the influence clothes can have on the way you think and feel. Add to that the thrill of a new discovery, and you’ll see why my greatest happiness comes from wearing something I found from a new designer.

Every season, I try to discover up-and-coming talents, connect with them, and learn about their work. Of course, that’s always mixed with some tried-and-true favorites from my ever-growing list of go-to designers. The city itself plays a big inspirational role in my choices; Copenhagen is all about color and playful experimentation. Los Angeles is a little this, a little that. And Paris, for me at least, is where I can bring the elegance and drama. Filtered through the lens of my own style identity, this season I assembled garments that had something meaningful to say. Here’s a closer look at some of the outfits I donned for Paris Fashion Week during the spring-summer 2027 season. 

‘Bows are a Girl’s Best Friend’

Think Marilyn Monroe, and chances are you picture her in the iconic pink satin dress from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Designed by William Travilla, the peau d’ange silk gown — with its superfluous bow — is inarguably, the most famous pink dress in Hollywood. So, it’s no surprise that it was the image that Amanda Linder, who spent decades working in costume design, reached for when she was creating a bridal corset for her Los Angeles-based bridalwear label, Intended Atelier.

“[The gown] is one of the clearest examples of costume transcending the film it was originally made for,” Amanda told me in an email. “It has been more than [70] years, and people who have never watched the movie still understand the reference.” So, I thought: What better way to bring a small part of my adopted hometown than by wearing a piece that nods to its most glamorous icons?

Amanda launched Intended Atelier this year alongside co-founder and brand director, Natasha Glatz, whose career spans across fashion, hair, and makeup. For its first-ever collection, the brand focused on elevating one of the most time-honored bridal accessories: the veil. Weaving costume-making practices and craftsmanship into bridalwear, Intended Atelier creates exquisitely crafted, bespoke veils designed to fit brides to perfection. “It is arguably one of the most metaphorically meaningful garments associated with marriage, yet commercially it is often treated as an accessory added at the end,” Natasha told me. “We saw the opposite.” (It’s worth noting that the corset I wore is a finished sample and a glimpse into the atelier’s future plans to expand into other wedding-day adornments. For inquiries on custom orders, reach out to Intended Atelier.) 

Staying true to Intended Atelier’s bridalwear identity, I paired the corset with a white lace bodysuit (is there anything more synonymous with wedding attire than lace?) by Norma Kamali. To bring a tailored sensibility to the look, I teamed everything up with a pair of polished and sleek wide-legged pants, featuring an attached overlay with button closure. I find that bodysuits make layering seamless, without needing to fuss over tucking and untucking.

Toeing the line between elegance and edge, I completed the look with a choker by My Dearest World, a slow jewelry line founded by Hanna Lefcourt in 2022. Made by hand in her Hudson River Valley studio, the necklace features three strands of cloudy-gray freshwater pearls linked with safety pins. And lastly, on the accessories front, another edgy bijoux: a sculptural ear cuff by Frou York, helmed by New York-based jewelry designer Jes Miller. 

Softness Meets Sculpture

Most of the time, there’s a single “anchor” piece that kicks of the inspiration for the rest of the outfit, and in this case, it was a bow-bedecked skirt by Tao Comme des Garçons, designed by Rei Kawakubo’s protege Tao Kurihara, which comes with a bit of a whimsical hidden secret — or two, to be more specific. Two dramatic side bows lend it a bit of a pannier-inspired pouf. But the fun part? They unclip and open up into some pretty luxuriously large pockets. 

To balance out the slightly rumpled, lived-in effect of the skirt, I styled it with a bold-shouldered blazer by Polish-born designer Magda Butrym. I love how it also matched the skirt’s overt girliness by creating this very feminine, wasp-waisted silhouette. 

To break the structured silhouette and clean lines of the blazer, I introduced a sculptural necklace by Jude Benhalim. Jude started her jewelry brand over a decade ago with her mother in Cairo, Egypt — where I grew up and lived for 16 years. The duo have since been dreaming up artful, striking pieces that mix modern design with traditional craftsmanship. This particular piece was inspired by Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage, who stands as an archetype of feminine duality. Fine leaf-vein detailing is worked into the design in a way that conveys a sense of movement and a delicate counterpoint to its sculptural form.  

I topped off the sleeves with another accessory that packs equal amounts of personality: a bulbous cuff bracelet by Coperni. A cherry-red bag interrupted the all-over grey and white palette. I’ve waxed poetic about Seoul-based label Osoi many times before, and I still stand by my deep affection for the brand. Named after the Japanese word for “unhurried,” Osoi makes the kind of accessories that bridge the gap between fashion and function. More than good looks, this bag is sleek and spacious enough to fit everything I needed — and then some. 

A Rogue Energy

It was early 2025, and I was walking to a show in Copenhagen when I ran into Gabrielle Todd and Ida Aksland, co-founders behind Rogue. We didn’t know each other, but I loved what they were wearing so much that we struck up a conversation. Over a year later, and their brand still warms my fashion heart. Based between Oslo and Paris, Rogue is reimagining and remastering Western wear with proportions inspired by the ’80s and ’90s. “There’s a Rogue energy that comes with wearing our pieces — bold, unpredictable,” Gabrielle told me during an interview for a feature last year. “You can be the cool girl and dress it down, but you can also, like, really style it up and make your statement.” 

I always gravitate toward clothes that create movement in addition to visual interest, so I was instantly drawn to a cape-style shirt and circle skirt (worn separately or as a set) the brand released this year. Inspired by a recent research trip to Texas, the ensemble builds on the shapes and volume seen in Rogue’s debut collection, but makes them more wearable. Using close to 30 feet of fabric, the skirt boasts a dramatic, high-impact silhouette and a fabric belt that you can tie in the back or front, or even leave to flutter. 

Now, onto the jewelry. I started with a few Cuban-link bracelets by Noritamy on my wrists. I love how they ground the look’s otherwise nonchalant ease — and capture the season’s appetite for chunky jewelry. As for earrings, I didn’t want anything too dramatic that would take away from the elegance and simplicity of the shirt’s band collar. Frou York’s chain-link danglers not only paired well with the bracelets, but they also made enough impact to catch the eye. Finishing off the look: my favorite Lado Bokuchava bag, festooned with silver hoops.