It was a serene start to the final weekend of fashion month. Celine eased us into Saturday morning, inviting guests to take their seats inside a calming white-walled, thatched roof hut. Erected inside Paris’ Musée des Archives Nationales, it was the type of beach club-style lodge you might find on the shores of Mykonos, Hydra or Santorini. Of course, as soon as SZA arrived, we were wide awake.  

It’s always exciting when SZA attends a fashion show – mostly because she doesn’t do it very often. Maybe now that she’s a designer herself (the first-ever artistic director of Vans), she’s using the shows as research. Sitting beside her was an impressive line-up of stars: Tracee Ellis Ross, Lisa Bonet, Hannah Einbinder, Rahim Redcar (formerly known as Christine and the Queens), Daniel Levy, The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach, as well as all six members of K-pop band TWS. 

Marking American designer Michael Rider’s fifth runway at the French house, the show opened with a quote from the trailblazing 1990 documentary, Paris Is Burning. The voice of legendary performer Dorian Corey, who died from AIDS-related complications just three years after the film’s release, filled the space: “I always had hopes of being a big star, and as you get older you aim a little lower, and I say you still might make an impression,” she says. “Everybody wants to leave something behind them, some mark upon the world.” 

Despite taking inspiration from a documentary as bold and bright as Paris Is Burning, the show was more subdued than you might expect. It was nothing like the runways of New York City’s ballroom scene; instead, it was restrained and subtle – but sublime all the same. The opening looks arrived in black silk while Erykah Badu’s “I’ll Call U Back” lulled us into a state of hypnosis. 

Accessories were blown up to extreme proportions. There were giant belt buckles the size of skirts (not dissimilar to the work of rising Swedish designer Beata Rydbacken), gold hoops reaching the shoulders, and hats drooped down over the eyes. From a distance, it was a collection that looked simple. But close-up, you’d see the quirks in the details – wafer-thin ties (taking skinny to a whole new level), black headbands worn by male models and John Lennon-style shades. Even the way the models clutched their dust coats was interesting: flung over the shoulders, as if their boyfriends had offered up their jackets to keep them warm. 

It wasn’t a show that screamed Paris Is Burning, but it did speak to Corey’s quote about leaving a mark on the world. For Michael Rider and Celine, making an impact doesn’t mean being the loudest, brashest, most colourful brand on the fashion week schedule. Along with the designer’s recent menswear offerings, this collection is proof that sometimes it’s the most understated shows that get everybody talking.