K-Way transported guests to a small piece of Paris for their FW23 show at Milan Fashion Week, recreating the capital’s iconic Café de la Paix in a homage to the activewear brand’s origins.

The real Café at Place de l’Opéra in the 9th arrondissement is where it all began back in 1965, with brand founder Léon-Claude Duhamel coming up with K-Way’s packable jacket after watching a mother and her two children in their own red nylon jackets during a rainy Parisian day.

Titled the R&D collection, the show was an immersive experience in every sense, rather than a traditional runway, a pedestrian street was created with guests sitting at tables in groups of four lining up the ‘street’ on both sides, recreating Duhamel’s exact day all those years ago. Uniformed waiters dished out champagne and pastries to guests before the show began, while Yves Montand’s Sous le ciel de Paris echoed around the room. The brand is due to host another celebratory event during the Paris Fashion Week schedule in March at the actual Café de la Paix, for a full circle moment.

The green and cream hues of the cafe’s chairs and blue tones of its furnishings served as the colour palette for the season, along with neutrals and K-Way’s signature orange. Silhouettes were innovative and abstract, layered in technical fabrics – dimensions morphing with each look. Outerwear staples like bomber and puffer jackets were shown in both cropped and exaggerated long versions, with materials in different textures and finishes, from pleats and quilting to contrasting matte and glossy surfaces.

The show ended with K-Way’s avant-garde take on the “bride dress”, built from layers of their iconic rain jackets in neon tones wrapped around the model’s body with a dramatic, flowing train.