The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode Title: Vogue Editors’ First Thoughts From PARIS! | PLUS Sally Singer on The New Guard of Designers
Date: October 2, 2025
Hosts: Nicole Phelps, Mark Holgate, Choma Nardi, Chloe Malle
Special Guest: Sally Singer

Episode Overview

This episode of The Run-Through delivers an on-the-ground, inside-the-van account of Paris Fashion Week, featuring Vogue editors’ visceral, real-time reactions to the season’s most anticipated designer debuts and runway shows. The episode is split into two main segments: first, editors share impressions of Paris’s marquee shows and new creative directions at heritage houses, followed by a deep-dive interview with legendary Vogue editor Sally Singer on fashion’s shifting guard, designer longevity, and the emotional resonance of style.

Paris Fashion Week: Editors’ Immediate Reactions

Setting the Scene

• Editors Nicole Phelps and Mark Holgate report from the back of a van cruising Paris, en route to pivotal shows, soaking in the city’s atmosphere.
• The anticipation centers especially around Jonathan Anderson’s debut at Dior, which is described as the most buzzed-about event of the season ([02:34]).

Highlights From Recent Shows

Saint Laurent

• Atmosphere: A night show under the Eiffel Tower, with floral installations and the scent of Opium fragrance wafting through the air ([03:03], [03:25]).
• Fashion Take:
  • Anthony Vaccarello’s collection revisits Saint Laurent codes with cinematic flair, roughened leathers in couture shapes, and references to YSL's early beatnik transgressions.
  • “The finale were those dresses which were kind of billowing, very kind of Nan Kempner 80s ball gowns, but were literally treated like T-shirts...movement, movement, movement.”
    — Mark Holgate ([04:52])

Dries van Noten

• Julien Clausner's Womenswear: Inspired by surfers; a play on lightness, optimism, electric caftans, and floating silhouettes.
• Clausner wanted to reproduce the “optimistic and light and joyful” reaction to his previous men’s show ([05:43]).

Louis Vuitton

• Nicolas Ghesquière's Innovation: Show in a Louvre wing originally for Queen Anne of Austria.
• "He’s just really leaning into the experimentation with the silhouettes, with the techniques, with the finishes...isn't that what we need right now?"
  — Mark Holgate ([06:39])

Stella McCartney

• Eco-Innovation: Debut of Puretech, a fabric woven into jeans that helps clean the air—blending conscience, wit, and feminine sensibility ([07:21]).

Live Show Reactions & First Reviews

Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann

• Key Impressions:
  • “An incredible piece of such tightly controlled theater. And then incredible clothes. And then David Bowie on the soundtrack singing this very acapella, ish version of Heroes.”
    — Mark Holgate ([09:52])
  • Haider Ackermann’s collection is praised for reclaiming ‘sexy’ from just ‘sensual.’
  • “Polly Haider Ackermann has recuperated the term sexy...that was sexy, and he's proud of it, and he did it beautifully.”
    — Mark Holgate ([10:18])

Dior by Jonathan Anderson

• Video & Atmosphere: Opening video is “almost confrontational, dark...a bit like Dario Argento let loose on the Dior archive.”
  — Mark Holgate, Nicole Phelps, Claire Thompson ([12:05])
• Collection Notes: Incorporates elements both soft and constricting, explorations of the bar jacket, and inventive uses of signature pieces.
• “He’s in charge now.”
  — Nicole Phelps ([12:13])

Balmain by Olivier Rousteing

• Setting: At the historic Intercontinental, where Rousteing had his first Balmain show at age 23 ([13:04]).
• Collection: Less baroque, more organic embellishment, marine references ("couture sand"), more drape—a reflection of Rousteing’s evolution and underdog status despite years in the role ([14:18]).
• Industry Commentary: Familiarity can lead to disregard, but Rousteing’s growth is evident; “what he’s done here is he’s built a very small house...into a house that has sales...at least 10 times more than when he started.”
  — Luke, Backstage Reporter ([14:07], [15:42])

Sally Singer: The New Guard, Longevity & Lessons in Fashion

Looking Back: The Last "Changing of the Guard"

• Sally recalls her 2000 “new guard” profile for Vogue: “There was this very precise, slightly downbeat in the best way, like not logoed, not excessive, and not also so stripped back as to just be minimalism vibe coming out of Belgium.”
  — Sally Singer ([17:39])
• Recollection of an era: Marc Jacobs at Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière’s early collections, Eddie Slimane, Anne and Philippe van der Vost, Dries van Noten, etc.

What’s Different Now?

• Singer argues today’s turnover is unprecedented—not just new brands, but new creative leads at the world’s most powerful heritage houses. Cites the “LVMH moment” of the late 1990s/early 2000s, but says the current moment is broader and even more high-stakes for legacy brands ([24:10]).
• The challenge for today’s designers: “They're maintaining an entertainment channel and they still have to design jackets with two sleeves and, you know, a waist.”
  — Sally Singer ([25:15])
• Unlike film directors, fashion designers are expected to produce constantly.

Maintaining Creative Integrity

• “The people who do it best and feel the happiest...everything that comes from them at any iteration...is truly a part of their vision. And they don't compromise at all.”
  — Sally Singer ([27:41])
• Cites Dries van Noten, Rick Owens as models of longevity through uncompromised vision: “A Dries show was always a Dries show... Even if fashion was moving in another direction, Dries was moving in Dries direction.”
  ([27:41])
• “That doesn't mean that everything you do will sell... But at least you know who you are at the end of the day.”
  — Sally Singer ([29:46])

New Leadership at Iconic Houses

• Talks up Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Jack and Lazaro taking Loewe, Pierpaolo at Balenciaga ([25:15]-[34:14]).
• On Pierpaolo Piccioli: “He can make clothes that make a woman feel magnificent. Not beautiful, but magnificent.”
  — Sally Singer ([34:14])

The Importance of Grown-Ups in Leadership

• “I'm very pleased...how many grown-ups were put in houses—how many people who really have a track record, who have worked hard, who do know how to dress people…”
  — Sally Singer ([37:37])

On Craft, Aspiration, and Levity

• “In a world that's increasingly fraught...we need a vision of beauty that's beyond anything—we need magnificence. Fashion can lead in this...not as a balm, but as something that reminds you there is art, there is beauty...”
  — Sally Singer ([36:18])

Fashion’s Relationship with Social Media

• Reflects on Vogue’s early digital days: “I just felt that if we had the ability to do things in motion and...in sound and to do things differently, then we had to translate Vogue in a very different way.”
  ([40:29])
• On TikTok: “I love vertical video...when it's done well, brilliant. When it's not done well, it's whatever it is. It's entertainment, it's funny, it's banal.”
  — Sally Singer ([41:08])
• “Content, as it's called, should be very specific [to the platform]. But the intention, the ambition, the aspiration, the humor should come from a place that's deep and within you...”
  — Sally Singer ([41:28])

The Lasting Power of Great Images

• “There is still a hunger for beautiful still imagery... The sort of things that will last a test of time, that people will remember.”
  — Sally Singer ([43:14])
• Names legacy Vogue photographers; stillness and time to sit with images matter.

Sally’s Personal Fashion Archive and Style Philosophy

• Loves to revisit and rewear clothes by designers who’ve maintained authenticity: Jack and Lazaro's striped tees, Rick Owens, AF Van der Vos, early Marco Zanini and Josephus Timister skirts (“not because I’m some sort of sad person who keeps shopping their closet. It’s because things that I love from people I love, I will wear to the ends.”) ([33:02])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“I think Jonathan is really going to want to lean very heavily into pushing the ateliers to make the most kind of fantastic, creative things.”
— Mark Holgate on Anderson's Dior, [08:08]

“When I saw all of those leathers done in quite a kind of couture-y way...it did remind me of a very, very early, early Saint Laurent for Dior collection...movement, movement, movement.”
— Mark Holgate on Saint Laurent, [04:52]

“I think he [Julian] brought it. I have to say, I thought that collection looked great.”
— Mark Holgate on Dries van Noten, [05:43]

“Polly Haider Ackermann has recuperated the term sexy...that was sexy, and he's proud of it, and he did it beautifully.”
— Mark Holgate, [10:18]

“It felt a bit like Dario Argento let loose on the Dior archive. That was kind of the vibe.”
— Mark Holgate on Dior’s show video, [12:08]

“Familiarity doesn't breed exactly contempt, but it breeds a form of disregard...what he's done here is he's built a very small house that had sales in the tens of millions into a house that has sales...at least 10 times more than when he started.”
— Luke on Olivier Rousteing, [14:07], [15:42]

“They're maintaining an entertainment channel and they still have to design jackets with two sleeves... That’s a very hard thing to do. We don't demand that of film directors.”
— Sally Singer, [25:15]

“You have to be yourself 24/7, and then everything you touch should reflect you. And everyone who works for you should reflect that vision. And if you do that well, you know it'll work.”
— Sally Singer, [27:41]

“In a world that's increasingly fraught, hostile, troubled... we need a vision of beauty that's beyond anything. We need magnificence. Fashion can lead in this.”
— Sally Singer, [36:18]

Key Timestamps

• 00:46 Editors hit the ground in Paris—van ride overview
• 02:05 Setting the scene: Paris in autumn, anticipation for Dior
• 03:03 Saint Laurent under the Eiffel Tower: scene & show reaction
• 04:52 Movement and material at Saint Laurent
• 05:43 Dries van Noten, optimism, and ease
• 06:14 Louis Vuitton: experimentation & spectacle
• 07:15 Stella McCartney’s Puretech innovation
• 09:32 Tom Ford’s “sexy” theatrical turn by Haider Ackermann
• 11:14 Dior’s confrontational debut video & bold new direction
• 12:35 Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing and lessons on fashion longevity
• 15:42 Sally Singer interview begins
• 17:39 Sally reflects on “new guard” story and late ’90s/2000s scene
• 24:10 On today’s unprecedented turnover at iconic fashion houses
• 25:15 The relentless demands and scale of creative director jobs in 2025
• 27:41 Lessons in authenticity: the enduring vision of Dries, Rick Owens
• 34:14 Sally’s hopes for Pierpaolo at Balenciaga; excitement for innovations
• 36:18 Why “magnificence” and artistry matter more than ever
• 40:29 The evolution and specificity of fashion’s social media presence
• 43:14 The lasting impact of beautiful fashion imagery

Conclusion

This episode captures the pulse of Paris Fashion Week as new creative leads debut at legendary fashion houses and long-time industry voices reflect on what it means to make fashion matter. The editors’ reports mix color, wit, and fandom (“movement, movement, movement”) with sharp appraisals. Sally Singer delivers an inspiring meditation on integrity, aspiration, and the realities for designers now, leaving listeners with the sense that the future of fashion, though daunting, is as dazzling as ever—if not more so.