“Is the sky blue?” the soundtrack to Courrèges’s Fall/Winter 2023 show asked. In other words, Have you looked up yet today? Yesterday? What about his week?

The messaging at Nicolas di Felice’s Paris Fashion Week show was in-your-face—quite literally. The opening model sauntered out of backstage darkness, her visage illuminated by an iPhone which she gazed down at intently. “I don’t judge,” the designer was quoted post-show, on the topic of digital-age addiction, “but I question it, and I wanted to try to reflect on it.” Across the collection, leather jackets and hoodies and dress coats were slit towards the front, allowing wearers to text or scroll on-the-go; deep front pockets adorned trousers and long skirts alike, for easy storage and access; circular mirrored pendants hung on the chest, bouncing blue light back at the audience.

“The collection emerged from the curved stance of a body cloaked over a screen,” read a statement from the label—effectively, a shield to hide behind. That’s not to say it was all bulky and dark; many of the looks bared midriffs and backs, with cleverly-placed cut-outs. Or, they were translucent entirely. These models, however, weren’t holding phones, and their richly-colored garments contrasted sharply with the initial palette of black and gray. The act of shedding layers signified a freedom, a sense of self-realization, a look upwards.