Accidentally in Paris Fashion Week

Spring students unite! If you happen to land in the beautiful city of love between January and March, congratulations—you’ve just walked into the most chaotic, intoxicating, and surprisingly accessible fashion circus on earth. 

Paris Fashion Week isn’t a single event. It’s a season. A monthlong parade of celebrities, models, creative directors, and people who somehow make wearing all black look like a competitive sport. And as a student? You’re not on the guest list, but you are absolutely in the room.

I’ve done all the research on the hot spots and details, and thankfully for you guys – I don’t gatekeep. Here’s the breakdown of 2026 for any students interested in making the most out of Paris Fashion Week. 

First of all, the dates: 

Men’s Fashion Week (Fall/Winter 2026-2027): January 20–25.

Haute Couture Week (Spring/Summer 2026): January 26–29 — the big houses (Dior, Chanel, Schiaparelli) show their most elaborate, unhinged couture pieces.

Women’s Fashion Week (Fall/Winter 2026-2027): March 2–10 — the main event, the marathon, the reason everyone is here.

What It Feels Like to Be Outside the Barricade

 You’re not getting into the shows, but you are absolutely getting close. There are barricades, yes—but they’re small. Paparazzi are everywhere, shouting names, clicking cameras at a rate that feels violent. Event coordinators—the most competitive in the world—orchestrate arrivals with military precision. And when the celebrities arrive, you feel it. 

At the Louis Vuitton Foundation during Men’s Week, I saw Callum Turner walk in—my celebrity obsession after watching The Eternity. SZA arrived surrounded by a team of seven to ten people, all of whom were catering to her like she was made of glass. A senior friend spotted Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny at the famous hotspot restaurant L’Avenue in 2025. But this year? Rocky and Rihanna showed up at the club Silencio the night after my friends and I were there (yes, I almost cried). They ordered a table by the west bar, apparently.  

The PFW Hot Spots

The after-scene is where relationships—and sightings—actually happen.  So if you are a students interested in celebrity culture, entertainment and the fashion business,  here’s where the fashion people decompress, strategize, and occasionally let their guard down: 

- Hôtel Costes (Rue Saint-Honoré): Despite being lowkey on social media, Costes is always booked during fashion week. Low lighting, eternal cigarette haze, you might spot some editors and models decompressing post-show.  The best way, in my experience, to enjoy this bar is to go with friends, order a drink, and look unbothered.

- Le Bristol – Bar du Bristol: Inside the iconic Le Bristol, this bar is polished, quiet, and powerful. It’s less influencer, more buyers, designers, and legacy brand executives. 

- Ritz Paris – Bar Hemingway (Place Vendôme): Hidden inside the Ritz, Bar Hemingway is named after Ernest Hemingway, who famously “liberated” the hotel in 1944. It’s intimate, refined, and woody, with the Ritz being a magnet for royalty and fashion legends for over a century. Coco Chanel famously lived there for decades (she even has her own suite), and guests have included Princess Diana, Madonna and Leonardo DiCaprio.

- Silencio (Club, Le Marais): Silencio is a members' club designed by David Lynch (yes, the iconic movie director)—think dark tunnels, red lighting, very cinematic. During FW it's packed with models, stylists, musicians, and fashion-adjacent cool people. This is where Rihanna and ASAP Rocky got their table during Men's Fashion Week. It's not impossible to get into, but you do have to dress in a minimal, polished way (black never fails here). 

- Experimental Cocktail Club (Sentier): A low-lit cocktail bar known for its mixology scene, ECC draws younger creatives during Fashion Week — assistants, stylists, emerging designers. It’s not a celebrity hotspot, but it’s where cool conversations happen after midnight. Good opportunity for industry networking if you're up for it. 

- L’Avenue (Restaurant, Avenue Montaigne):  The power lunch institution is located directly across Dior. L’Avenue is prime Fashion Week territory. Front-row celebrities like Rihanna, Kendall, Bad Bunny and Kim Kardashian have dined here between shows. My advice is to go for lunch or early dinner with friends (the tiramisu here is amazing), and even if you don't run into anybody, you still enjoy a nice dinner with an amazing view. 

Events You Can Actually Get Into

Let's be real: it's really hard to get into the runway shows without a proper invitation. But you can get into brand pop-ups, fashion film screenings, gallery installations, and designer Q&As. Many events are RSVP-based, not invite-only. 

Invitation or not, you’re witnessing the top brass of fashion, design, and business—the entire entertainment and luxury industry on full display. Do not let it intimidate you. Let it inspire you. Let the excitement pull you closer to fashion, design, or whatever world you’re building for yourself. Because here’s the thing: you don’t want to look like someone trying to “get in.” You want to look like someone who is simply there. And you are.