Dimming down the bright lights of Paris Fashion Week, AMI Paris exudes chic austerity in its Fall/Winter 2023 collection. AMI’s founder and Creative Director, Alexander Mattiussi, carefully considered the setting for this season’s show. The Opéra Bastille—the industrial sibling of the grand Palais Garnier opera house—is stripped down to basics at its core. Possessing a scarcity of decorative elements, it makes a point to not divert any attention from its shows. Mattiussi has followed the same doctrine as the Creative Director opts a framework reducing superfluity to magnify AMI’s core this season.

While presenting its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, a celebration of color took form in extensively measured color blocking on the streets surrounding the Sacré Cœur. Outfits last season were styled in a mélange of contrasting neutrals and bright hues. Paris Fashion Week found AMI clad in pastels, burning terracotta, beige, and nautical navy blue—a shade eternally etched in Paris’ design culture.

Paying homage to the vibrant spirit of Montmartre, the French luxury brand explored iconic aesthetics of the 60s through a lens of cinematic romanticism. Womenswear assumed the shape of fitted rompers, double-breasted blazers, denim shorts, and spindly, thigh-high leather boots in brown and black. Cropped graphic leather jackets framed by trembling panels of fringe complimented graphic t-shirts. Menswear witnessed an eclectic blend of track pants, knitwear drenched in argyle, and pin-striped blazers. It was all very characteristic of the cherished touristic arrondissement.

Progressing its narrative exploration of the authentic Parisian style, AMI transforms its vision from last season. In this new chapter of Fall/Winter 2023, the romantic essence of its previous collection blooms into a modern austerity. Ultra-fitted silhouettes from last season are sliced open to reveal a new outline of leisurely grace. Transcending the confines of fashion’s enduring affair with air-tight garments, AMI channels a new form liberated from gender conformities to sway freely.

Balancing motion and inertia, AMI harmonizes the male and female forms with nonrestrictive silhouettes. Tailored men’s micro shorts debuted alongside cargo-inspired trousers with a figure easily malleable by the wind. Trailing the runway, the graceful motion of its trousers blurs the boundary line between luxury and comfort. Following the same notion, Light turtleneck sweaters are layered with plush knits in shades of dusty blues and grays that weave layers of depth and comfort into its collection.

Womenswear this season diverged from AMI’s previous collection with predominantly masculine forms including broad-shouldered, tailored vests and expansive aviator jackets. With hints of femininity peering out from beneath, statements pieces are illuminated against their subdued counterparts; a sheer top embellished with abstractions of silver stars and a glittering champagne micro skirt illuminate the runway as they are revealed.

Alexander Mattiussi has long been fixed on materializing the understated yet chic philosophy of the authentic Parisian. Following the brand’s lengthy rendezvous with what Mattiussi dubs “that Parisian postcard vibe,” it sheds its quirks, dawning a period of exploring Paris’ local dress code. Expanding on French vestiary practices, the collection plays with pairing garments of understated style to deliver an effortless mode, a signature of the city.

Through the vein of an unexpected color palette coursing neutrals and dusty pastels, AMI conveys notions of temperate elegance. Modest in decorative elements, the emerging collection flips the script to a narrative of romanticism, purity, and new beginnings. While these concepts would be conventional and underwhelming for the spring, AMI tactfully repurposes them for autumn by displacing lightweight materials and pastels. Oversized and austere in its figure, yet playful in its color scheme, a men’s pastel yellow leather jacket with a pointed shearling collar is an unexpected relish for the fall season.

Sumptuous shearling coats in a cool variation of toffee magnetized the gaze of spectators, establishing themselves as the height of its outerwear this season. Both knee-length and calf-length variations dazzle with a subdued radiance.

Darker hues return in the same nautical navy blue featured in AMI’s collection last season. Sheer tanks, trench coats, double-breasted blazers, ribbed knit sweaters, and boiler suits emphasized texture through this eternally cherished shade.

Its footwear this season assumed a broad spectrum of forms. Leather knee-high boots create a visual sequence of autumnal charm as they are paired with leather jackets. Loafers dipped in shades of gray, navy, black, and neutralized yellows also made noteworthy appearances.

The house’s insignia was sported in this season’s croc-embossed satchels. Camera bags wrapped in smooth leather, too, bore the AMI logo in reflective metals.

Through the minimalist’s gaze, AMI’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection serves as a palette cleanser this Paris Fashion Week amidst opulence and gallantry. While Paris is known for its lavish display of ornate endeavors, one is often challenged with what pieces to combine so many of statement. AMI offers the emerging collection as the skeleton key to this predicament. Removing the veil of decorative clutter, Alexandre Mattiussi introduces a new statement of clarity through a relaxed, urban mode.

Watch the full show, below: