Paris Fashion Week Looked Completely Different 20 Years Ago. See What the Celebrities Wore in 2006

The Spring/Summer 2027 womenswear shows kick off in Paris on Sept. 28

NEED TO KNOW

• Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2027 starts on Monday, Sept. 28, and will end on Oct. 6
• The event started in 1973, around the same time as the famous Battle of Versailles fashion show
• While the 2020s have marked a new chapter for celebrity front row fashion, 20 years ago celebrities attended shows in more subdued looks

Paris Fashion Week has become a sartorial spectacle beyond the actual clothes shown on the runway.

The first Paris Fashion Week took place in 1973, according to British Vogue, alongside the creation of the Fédération Française de la Couture, the committee that brings together French and international houses and puts together the week-long event of shows, per its website. That same year, the famous Battle of Versailles fashion show, which fundraised for the restoration of the Palace of Versailles, occurred with five French-representing designers and labels, including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy, metaphorically taking a swing at Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston and Stephen Burrows in America. The original New York Fashion Week showcase was the brainchild of fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, who started the industry’s “press week” — which would later become New York Fashion Week — in the Big Apple in 1943.

Paris’ fashion calendar, which now spans menswear, womenswear and haute couture and shows six times a year, has delivered a number of show-stopping moments in the 2020s, even with the decade only halfway through. Some memorable moments include Kylie Jenner enticing the crowd in a Schiaparelli lion’s head gown at the same time Doja Cat twinkled in thousands of body-covering crystals; Chappell Roan’s provocative ensembles (some of them NSFW) and Jennifer Lopez’s recent parade of designer looks.

But 20 years ago, Hollywood’s hottest stars were a lot more casual when it came to supporting designers from the front row.

In 2006, it wasn’t really about wearing a gown that hit your front row neighbor or the most photographable look. Celebrity snaps taken at the time show stars such as Lenny Kravitz and his daughter Zoë, sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (who now show their own label, The Row, in Paris), Cher and Victoria Beckham wearing what could be considered subdued looks compared to today’s viral fashion choices.

On Monday, Sept. 28, Paris will light up with celebrities once again as they touch down for the Spring/Summer 2027 season. Ahead, see what A-listers wore in 2006.

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Lenny and Zoë Kravitz at Yves Saint Laurent

At the Yves Saint Laurent Spring/Summer show in October 2006, Lenny Kravitz and his daughter Zoë were pictured in understated outfits — him in a Cinna-coded jacket and jeans and her in a simple midi dress.

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Drew Barrymore at Dior

Before making suits and ties her signature, Drew Barrymore exuded the less-is-more fashion philosophy in a black one-shoulder dress accessorized with a chunky bangle and sunglasses at the Dior show.

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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at Dior

Mary-Kate Olsen wore a beanie with her strapless dress for the Dior show in October 2006, while Ashley teamed her textured blazer with loafer pumps.

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Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham at Chanel

It was all about timeless and understated dressing for Victoria Beckham and Katie Holmes at the Chanel show.

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Cher at Jean Paul Gaultier

Cher attended the Jean Paul Gaultier show dressed in cool jeans and a biker jacket — she still hasn’t lost her rocker edge!

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Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson at Dior

Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson were on the same page 20 years ago when they attended the Dior Fall/Winter couture show dressed in coordinating white looks.

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Janet Jackson and Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton

At the Spring/Summer Louis Vuitton show, Janet Jackson and Pharrell Williams kept it cool and casual in their outfits (without a hint of logos).

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Cattrall at D. Porthault

Party looks had nothing on Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Cattrall’s tried-and-true black dresses worn to a D. Porthault shop opening that fall.

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Natalie Portman at Lanvin

Dresses like this Natalie Portman violet midi were once favored over the grandeur du jour.

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Kylie Minogue at Chanel

Kylie Minogue, then with a bold pixie cut, went for a black dress with a studded collar for the Chanel Haute Couture show in July 2006.

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