When Jemima Kirke agreed to document her trip to Paris Fashion Week exclusively for Who What Wear, we knew were in for some fun. The actor—whose latest project, the Apple TV+ drama series City on Fire, premieres May 12—is never one to take life, or fashion for that matter, too seriously. Arriving with a packed schedule that included stops at Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Isabel Marant, Courrèges, and ACNE Studios in addition to a few soirées, Kirke capped off what has been a long but fruitful fashion month filled with jaw-dropping sartorial moments both on and off the runways.
From taking epic selfies with her front-row partner Lisa Rinna to gushing over fellow actor Bel Powley and embracing sheer dressing, Kirke came, saw, and conquered PFW in the best way. Here’s how she saw it…
“I sat next to Lisa Rinna at three different shows. We found it funny how we kept being put with one another. Turns out we’re two peas in a pod.”
“Post–Givenchy show. Talking to I-D mag. She was English. I was comfortable—maybe too comfortable. I guess we’ll soon see.”
“Everyone chill. It’s Paris, and it’s not even lit.”
“It’s funny how irritated some women get to see you in sheer clothing. Women hate when other women know they look good. Well, after this look, I noticed that the see-through look is a thing. So over and out for now.”
“There’s something glamorous and nostalgic about scrawling a poem or a drawing on hotel stationery, from a Holiday Inn to the chateau. It’s a ‘Jem woz here’ moment.”
“Alice [Dellal] came from London to visit and sleep in my bed. I don’t love sharing beds, and she is no exception. But no matter. We were gonna go out and go hard, and there would be no room for sleeping. So we naturally called Derek for tips. After almost two hours of dressing ourselves, I asked her, ‘How old are you?’ I’d forgotten. ‘Thirty-five,’ she said. ‘You?’ ’38.’ We looked at each other in horror as it dawned on us. We were having an Ab Fab moment. We laughed hysterically, then fought over who was who.”
“First fitting. Courrèges. I asked for a few more items with color. They smiled, knowingly, and told me to get dressed. The French fashion world has a way of knowing exactly what you should wear. In my experience, they are always right.”
“One of the Paco Rabanne options. This was the first choice of the peanut gallery. I’m at the age where I’m more aware of what looks ‘age’ me. For some reason, I thought this was one of those looks. But again, wrong.”
“The Paco winner. Disco Cleopatra wearing the jacket of a guy she gave a fake number to.”
“I’ve always believed in fake flowers.”
“I noticed Bel [Powley] at the ACNE dinner, and I remembered my jealousy when I first saw her performance in Diary of a Teenage Girl. Artists are like that. But we like to lie and say we’re not. Then she looked at me and bounded over to me. Her big ol’ Victorian eyes undid me, and it was that nauseating moment of two actors gushing over each other. So we got a room.”
“Leaving Paris. No sleep because business class. Showing off my new bag by my cousin, designer, and namesake of Charlotte Olympia.”
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