Paris Fashion Week: Camila Cabello, Helen Mirren and Eva Longoria shake things up at the L’Oréal show

Sep 30 , 2019

L'Oreal was represented by a raft of stars at Paris Fashion week, roping in (from left) American actress Andie MacDowell, British singer Cheryl, Cuban-US singer Camilla Cabello, British actress Helen Mirren, British singer Geri Horner, US actress Amber Heard, Dutch model Doutzen Kroes and Ethiopian model Liya Kebede to present creations during the Women’s Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear extravaganza at Monnaie de Paris. Photo: AFP

Camila Cabello refers to herself as the ‘shortest model’ to walk the runway, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria confesses to butterflies ahead of the show, Elie Saab channels the 1970s and Hermès keeps it simple and stunning

Armed with a battalion of celebrity ambassadors, L’Oréal took over the historic Paris Mint building to stage a Paris Fashion Week extravaganza. Offerings from Elie Saab, who went 1970s, and Vivienne Westwood, who stylishly towed a line between ethnic and punk, made for a frenetic pace of shows on Saturday, September 28.

Here are some highlights of the day’s spring-summer 2020 ready-to-wear displays:

L’Oréal goes to the Mint

L’Oréal celebrated female empowerment at its third fashion show, which featured actresses Helen Mirren, Andie MacDowell and Eva Longoria giving turns as models, and was broadcast to more than 40 countries.

The French cosmetic giant’s display was less ambitious than last year’s edition, which took place on the Seine river, or the one staged in the centre of the Champs-Élysées that literally stopped traffic in 2017.

Nonetheless, Mirren, Longoria, MacDowell and Dutch model Doutzen Kroes energised spectators at the evening show, joining Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and American model and actress Amber Heard and others to showcase a collection of carefully crafted looks.

Helen Mirren wowed the audience at the L'Oreal Ready To Wear Spring-Summer 2020 show in Paris. Photo: AP

Whatever the styles lacked in unity – they harked from diverse design houses that included AMI, Balmain, Dries Van Noten, Elie Saab and Giambattista Valli – they made up in razzmatazz.

A strong-shouldered tuxedo mixed with a ’70s jabot collar shirt on Mirren and contrasted with more feminine styles, such as a trapeze-shaped, shoulder-less coral gown or the dazzling pearl-hued ruched number Longoria wore.