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When French fashion content creator and commentator Lyas didn’t get an invite to Jonathan Anderson’s much-anticipated Dior menswear debut last June, he took matters into his own hands. Renting out a bar in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, he sent an open invite to his followers and streamed the show himself. Hundreds of people turned up.
“My watch parties were inspired by hate,” says the 27-year-old, known for his incisive and funny online commentary. “I hated not being invited to the shows. “I decided to host watch parties as a kind of ‘fuck you’ to all the people that didn’t invite me.”
His La Watchparty events have since become their own date in the fashion calendar. When Matthieu Blazy presented his debut Chanel show at the Grand Palais in October, Lyas gathered 2,000 fans to watch the show at La Caserne, an open-air venue in the 10th arrondissement. People reportedly jumped over barriers to get in.
Lyas – whose real name is Elias Medini – was born in Normandy to French and Algerian parents. He fell in love with Paris after visiting as a teenager. “It changed everything,” he says. “For me, Paris is the land of the possible, it’s this amazing city where you can become who you want.” He recalls sneaking into Demna’s FW20 Vetements show as a youth and kept the branded Evian bottle “invite” in his bedroom until his mother accidentally threw it away.
Whereas actual front rows can be filled with poker-facing and politicking, La Watchparty events have the feral atmosphere of a football match. The demographic skews young – or “unemployed”, as Lyas jokes – and when a look is deemed to be stronger than another one, it’s met with screams and cheers. Fashion brands have also taken note. Having started by funding the events himself, Lyas now receives sponsorship from brands including MAC Cosmetics and Vinted. Recent watch parties have taken place on the Bowery in New York for Marc Jacobs, and in Paris, where 400 unsuspecting guests turned up to what they thought was a watch party event, but was actually Willy Chavarria’s AW26 show.
“Lyas represents a new kind of voice in fashion – one that’s informed, honest and deeply engaged with the culture,” says Chavarria. “What makes him important is that he’s not just observing the industry, he’s interpreting it for a generation that wants inclusion and joy. Fashion needs that kind of dialogue.”
With a cartoonish grin, cursive moustache and penchant for hats, Lyas has an off-kilter charisma. Since La Watchparty launched, he’s garnered a 428k-strong Instagram following, as well as fans such as Bad Bunny, Julia Fox and Alex Consani. Adding to his fast-growing icon status is his signature lip – a bright red by MAC Cosmetics. “It might be called the Lyas shade soon, I don’t know,” he says.
As for the upcoming shows, Lyas is characteristically equivocal. “I don’t like saying [something] will be a trend because then we’d be stuck with only trends,” he says. But a trend to leave behind? “Conservatism,” he says. “It feels like these gay men that are designing for women don’t want to liberate them. It doesn’t feel suited for the life of a real 21st-century woman.” In London, Lyas is more “excited” by the capital’s “punk” potential. “London Fashion Week started with the arrest of Andrew [Mountbatten-Windsor], which gives me a little hope for more.”
Starting from a place of bitterness, La Watchparty has been positive in outcome. “In the end, it has created something so beautiful that I have forgotten all the hate. There’s this need for community, and it’s a place where all these kids that love fashion can finally meet each other,” says Lyas. “It’s going to spark so many ideas. I wish I had that growing up.”