Cecilie Bahnsen Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear

Cecile Bahnsen’s show, held for the second season in the City of Light, confirmed her status as the queen of romantic poufy frocks. A flow of flounced, cloud-like concoctions paraded under a gray sky around the elegant Cour Mansart in the Monnaie de Paris, meandering through an installation of 250 variously shaped clear glass bottles, handblown by artist Nina Nørgaard, displayed on a series of low mirrored plinths. The artworks were inspired by a Yoko Ono exhibition Bahnsen saw years ago at Copenhagen’s Louisiana Museum, where a row of glass bottles filled with water was displayed on a shelf, each  bottle labeled with famous names—David Bowie, Sylvia Plath, Cindy Sherman, and others. “I found that message of oneness so meaningful,” said Bahnsen backstage. “We are different yet the same.” She called her collection “We Are Water.”