Chanel show wrestles with designer void as actor Lupita Nyong'o talks diversity in fashion

PARIS (AP) — A giant empty cage greeted Chanel’s guests at its return to the Grand Palais on Tuesday. Though perhaps not intentionally symbolic, the décor seemed to capture the current state of the house itself: a majestic structure empty of creative direction. With Virginie Viard’s recent departure, Chanel finds itself at a crossroads, as the fashion world eagerly awaits the appointment of a new creative leader.

Meanwhile, in a powerful step toward embracing diversity, Chanel announced Lupita Nyong’o as its newest ambassador. The appointment of the Oscar-winning actor, who is Kenyan Mexican, comes at a pivotal moment for the French fashion house that had faced criticism in the past for its lack of inclusivity. This move follows the widely-lauded appointment of British-Indian Leena Nair as Chanel’s global chief executive in 2022, making her the only woman of color at the helm of a major luxury brand.

Here are some highlights of spring-summer ready-to-wear shows:

The spring collection delivered many familiar elements from Chanel’s vast repertoire — chiffon capes, slit skirts, embroidered transparent shirt dresses, trench coats adorned with multicolored feather prints, aviator jackets with Peter Pan collars, total pink or blue tweed looks, and the iconic little black dress that Chanel herself introduced to the world. Tweed, jersey, faille, transparent embroidery, sequins, fringe, pastel knits, and sparkling platform shoes all made an appearance, forming a showcase of the house’s signatures.

Yet despite the breadth and richness of the offering, something was amiss. There was little cohesion, and at times, the collection lacked the unmistakable soul that once characterized Chanel’s shows. A series of foulard-printed gowns seemed out of place — as if borrowed clumsily from another narrative altogether.

With a snip of scissors, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel freed women from their corsets. Today, Chanel itself needs liberation. The applause at the end of the show, which featured designs that often felt uninspired, was distinctly muted, with critics visibly shifting in their seats.

Star appearances by Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough, who capped the show with a funky vocal performance of a Prince hit from inside the gilded cage, as well the starry presence of Nyong’o, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Vanessa Paradis, Margaret Qualley and Naomi Campbell, seemed like an effort to divert attention from the elephant — or the empty cage — in the room.

Chanel is unquestionably a fashion juggernaut, and it will weather this moment of transition. However, there is no overstating the importance of the decision the house now faces. Chanel must find a designer who can reshape and redefine its vision for the future. The industry is rife with speculation. Potential successors include Daniel Roseberry, known for his dramatic work at Schiaparelli, Marc Jacobs, a seasoned classicist with Paris experience, and Nadège Vanhée, the skilled designer from Hermès.

Viard, ousted this summer, succeeded Karl Lagerfeld upon his death in 2019 and was his closest collaborator for decades. She had overseen record sales for Chanel, reaching a reported $19.7 billion last year. Ready-to-wear sales reportedly increased 23% during her tenure. Viard was only the third creative director in Chanel’s over 100-year history, following Lagerfeld and legendary founder Chanel herself.

Nyong’o shared her excitement and the deep sense of responsibility accompanying the new role. “It’s a great honor,” she said. “Chanel is a legacy brand with a long history. And to be the newest face of it feels monumental. I feel very, very proud and excited to take this new journey with a brand that I think is dynamic and always feminine and regal.”

Nyong’o’s appointment comes as a breath of fresh air in an industry criticized for lack of diversity and reluctance to change. The number of Black designers leading heritage houses remains alarmingly low — currently only Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing and Louis Vuitton men’s designer Pharrell Williams hold such positions in Parisian legacy brands.

For Nyong’o, joining Chanel is about more than wearing beautiful clothes — it’s about contributing to a narrative shift in fashion. “The message that I bring naturally and deliberately to the role is that things have changed. And we don’t want them to go back to what they once were,” she said.

Nyong’o drew inspiration from watching a recent documentary about Bethann Hardison, the iconic model and activist who was at the forefront of pushing for diversity in fashion during the 1960s and 1970s. Hardison, who rose to prominence after her appearance at the historic 1973 Battle of Versailles — a groundbreaking fashion show that brought American designers into the spotlight — became one of the first high-profile Black models and an outspoken advocate for change.

“In that documentary, I was really alarmed to see how much work had been done to diversify the fashion industry, but then how much it reverted to monoculture in the following years,” Nyong’o said.

Hardison’s tireless efforts led to significant gains for Black models in the past, but the subsequent regression underscored how fragile those victories could be. Her fight for inclusivity in fashion serves as both a cautionary tale and a source of inspiration for Nyong’o, who now finds herself continuing Hardison’s legacy.

“It took a step back, so for me that was testament to the fact that it takes consciousness. It’s a conscious effort that has to be made on a daily basis and in present time. You don’t fix it once and then hope it stays that way,” Nyong’o added. She sees Chanel’s decision to name her as an ambassador as part of a broader, deliberate declaration: “I feel like these movements that Chanel is making are part of declaring a desire to represent a more realistic world. And I’m proud to be one of those faces that is sending that message.”

The importance of visibility in reshaping perceptions cannot be understated.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t see myself in ads for brands like this. It resulted in me going through quite the identity crisis and feeling undervalued by the world,” Nyong’o said candidly. She recounted those early days — staring at glossy magazine pages, searching for a face that mirrored her own, only to find none.

Now, she imagines a little girl somewhere, watching her in a Chanel campaign, seeing someone who looks like her — someone who is elegant, celebrated, and valued.

“I would hope that there is a message for little girls,” she continued. “My work as an actor and as an author, as a podcast maker, and now as a brand ambassador, is to change that by just occupying the space.” It is a powerful reminder of the transformative impact of representation; when someone finally occupies a space that was once empty, it changes the way people see themselves and the world around them.

The luxury sector has frequently been accused of tokenism and superficial diversity efforts — making short-term gestures without genuine long-term change. Nyong’o is determined to make her role count, embodying the idea that representation must come with influence and purpose.

French fashion once again showcased its formidable strength at Nicolas Ghesquière’s spring collection for Louis Vuitton, blending savoir-faire with cultural resonance. “French fashion is a formidable soft power, radiating a tradition of savoir-faire, an art de vivre – a cultural singularity,” the house said, and the designer delivered a spectacle that seemed like yet another a grand culmination of the house's journey across time, space, and style.

A sheeny striped coat with a curved silhouette opened the show, its adornments and accessories teeming with a kind of futuristic couture—a theme Ghesquière has mastered over his tenure. The coat set the stage for a collection that often intentionally deceived and dazzled the eye, echoing Ghesquière’s penchant for “colliding references” and reimagining the old as new. Giant petal-like fabrics encircled the necks of models, conjuring both South American flair and a nod to punk—the very hybrid aesthetic that makes Ghesquière’s work so unmistakable.

The show leaned into religious undertones, featuring a priest-like robe with fluid proportions, accessorized with an almost comically oversized black chain adorned with a sort of crucifix.

Yet, despite the individual flair of many pieces, the sheer divergence of styles sometimes felt overwhelming. One particular black-and-white floral split dress seemed to confuse the eye, its busy patterns making it difficult for spectators to discern where the dress ended and the underdress began. This tendency to merge multiple aesthetic elements occasionally crossed into visual overload.

If anyone can redefine fashion by dipping into the nursery wardrobe, it’s Miuccia Prada. This season, Miu Miu, Prada’s irreverent and intellectual baby sister, examined early youth — and with it, the liberating simplicity and honesty it brings to thinking and dressing.

The brand is notorious for blurring the lines between sophistication and play, and it’s no surprise that a baby’s cotton chemisette took center stage and transformed, under Prada’s artful manipulation, into something altogether more complex.

Opening with a crisp white cotton dress, this deceptively intricate collection borrowed directly from childhood is the fruit of a collaboration with Petit Bateau. Chemisette dresses, sweaters, and twisted shirts became subversive statements — folded, wrapped, and twisted in all the wrong ways to create something utterly fresh. The result? A glamour that Prada herself called “dishonest” — a term almost mischievously fitting for Miu Miu’s rebellious ethos. It’s the spirit of a girl who refuses to conform, wearing her tights over her dress, her sweaters in unconventional ways, just because she can.

The sense of playful contrast—an innocent wardrobe rendered provocative—captured one of Miu Miu’s long-standing narratives: youth is a state of being under construction, where rules are fluid, and experimentation is freedom. It’s a continuation of Prada’s love for subversion and polarity, whether it’s mixing raw imperfection with poise or twisting utilitarian comfort into a silhouette that exudes audacity.

Prada called in a remarkable cast, including Alexa Chung, Willem Dafoe, Cara Delevingne, and Hilary Swank — household names from every corner of the artistic universe, as comfortable in front of the camera as they were here, treading the Miu Miu boards.

Where Miuccia Prada excels is her ability to inject humor — a knowing wink — into serious fashion. And just as Prada herself once said, sometimes we must choose whether to be a child or a lady near death. This collection chose the former.

This article was corrected to show that Erykah Badu did not attend the Chanel fashion show.

Maria Sharapova attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Naomi Campbell attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Lupita Nyong'o attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Margaret Qualley attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Nathalie Emmanuel attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Jennie attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Nathalie Emmanuel attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Lennon Gallagher attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Lupita Nyong'o attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Models wear creations as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Models wear creations as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Angele attends the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Angele, left, and Jennie attend the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Stella Maxwell wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Models wear creations as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Models wear creations as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Models wear creations as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Nora Attal wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Becky Pepper-Jackson finished third in the discus throw in West Virginia last year though she was in just her first year of high school. Now a 15-year-old sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is aware that her upcoming season could be her last.

West Virginia has banned transgender girls like Pepper-Jackson from competing in girls and women's sports, and is among the more than two dozen states with similar laws. Though the West Virginia law has been blocked by lower courts, the outcome could be different at the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to be enforced in the past year.

The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in two cases over whether the sports bans violate the Constitution or the landmark federal law known as Title IX that prohibits sex discrimination in education. The second case comes from Idaho, where college student Lindsay Hecox challenged that state's law.

Decisions are expected by early summer.

President Donald Trump's Republican administration has targeted transgender Americans from the first day of his second term, including ousting transgender people from the military and declaring that gender is immutable and determined at birth.

Pepper-Jackson has become the face of the nationwide battle over the participation of transgender girls in athletics that has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans have leveraged the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for women and girls.

“I think it’s something that needs to be done,” Pepper-Jackson said in an interview with The Associated Press that was conducted over Zoom. “It’s something I’m here to do because ... this is important to me. I know it’s important to other people. So, like, I’m here for it.”

She sat alongside her mother, Heather Jackson, on a sofa in their home just outside Bridgeport, a rural West Virginia community about 40 miles southwest of Morgantown, to talk about a legal fight that began when she was a middle schooler who finished near the back of the pack in cross-country races.

Pepper-Jackson has grown into a competitive discus and shot put thrower. In addition to the bronze medal in the discus, she finished eighth among shot putters.

She attributes her success to hard work, practicing at school and in her backyard, and lifting weights. Pepper-Jackson has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade, though the Supreme Court's decision in June upholding state bans on gender-affirming medical treatment for minors has forced her to go out of state for care.

Her very improvement as an athlete has been cited as a reason she should not be allowed to compete against girls.

“There are immutable physical and biological characteristic differences between men and women that make men bigger, stronger, and faster than women. And if we allow biological males to play sports against biological females, those differences will erode the ability and the places for women in these sports which we have fought so hard for over the last 50 years,” West Virginia's attorney general, JB McCuskey, said in an AP interview. McCuskey said he is not aware of any other transgender athlete in the state who has competed or is trying to compete in girls or women’s sports.

Despite the small numbers of transgender athletes, the issue has taken on outsize importance. The NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees banned transgender women from women's sports after Trump signed an executive order aimed at barring their participation.

The public generally is supportive of the limits. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in October 2025 found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favored requiring transgender children and teenagers to only compete on sports teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with, while about 2 in 10 were “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed and about one-quarter did not have an opinion.

About 2.1 million adults, or 0.8%, and 724,000 people age 13 to 17, or 3.3%, identify as transgender in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Those allied with the administration on the issue paint it in broader terms than just sports, pointing to state laws, Trump administration policies and court rulings against transgender people.

"I think there are cultural, political, legal headwinds all supporting this notion that it’s just a lie that a man can be a woman," said John Bursch, a lawyer with the conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom that has led the legal campaign against transgender people. “And if we want a society that respects women and girls, then we need to come to terms with that truth. And the sooner that we do that, the better it will be for women everywhere, whether that be in high school sports teams, high school locker rooms and showers, abused women’s shelters, women’s prisons.”

But Heather Jackson offered different terms to describe the effort to keep her daughter off West Virginia's playing fields.

“Hatred. It’s nothing but hatred,” she said. "This community is the community du jour. We have a long history of isolating marginalized parts of the community.”

Pepper-Jackson has seen some of the uglier side of the debate on display, including when a competitor wore a T-shirt at the championship meet that said, “Men Don't Belong in Women's Sports.”

“I wish these people would educate themselves. Just so they would know that I’m just there to have a good time. That’s it. But it just, it hurts sometimes, like, it gets to me sometimes, but I try to brush it off,” she said.

One schoolmate, identified as A.C. in court papers, said Pepper-Jackson has herself used graphic language in sexually bullying her teammates.

Asked whether she said any of what is alleged, Pepper-Jackson said, “I did not. And the school ruled that there was no evidence to prove that it was true.”

The legal fight will turn on whether the Constitution's equal protection clause or the Title IX anti-discrimination law protects transgender people.

The court ruled in 2020 that workplace discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination, but refused to extend the logic of that decision to the case over health care for transgender minors.

The court has been deluged by dueling legal briefs from Republican- and Democratic-led states, members of Congress, athletes, doctors, scientists and scholars.

The outcome also could influence separate legal efforts seeking to bar transgender athletes in states that have continued to allow them to compete.

If Pepper-Jackson is forced to stop competing, she said she will still be able to lift weights and continue playing trumpet in the school concert and jazz bands.

“It will hurt a lot, and I know it will, but that’s what I’ll have to do,” she said.

Heather Jackson, left, and Becky Pepper-Jackson pose for a photograph outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Heather Jackson, left, and Becky Pepper-Jackson pose for a photograph outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Becky Pepper-Jackson poses for a photograph outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Supreme Court stands is Washington, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - Protestors hold signs during a rally at the state capitol in Charleston, W.Va., on March 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, file)