June brought frustration for Lyas when Jonathan Anderson’s menswear debut for Dior arrived without his name on the guest list. Rather than sulk, the fashion commentator hauled equipment to a Paris bar, projected the livestream, and invited anyone who cared to join. Nearly 300 people showed up. That moment of defiance sparked what would become La Watchparty, an operation that spent €100,000 to make precisely zero profit while building something the industry didn’t know it desperately needed.
The concept sounds almost absurdly straightforward: screen publicly available runway livestreams for crowds who typically watch alone on phones. Yet thousands now queue for free entry to watch fashion shows projected on a 3.5-meter-tall replica of Lyas’s MacBook in London, Milan, and Paris. Brands that once gatekept their presentations now sponsor the events. Raffle winners score actual runway tickets. Anderson himself sent Lyas a bag from the collection as thanks.
When Spectacle Meets Democracy
Fashion shows have always belonged to a chosen few. Even insiders with connections struggle to secure seats for certain presentations. Streaming changed accessibility in theory, but failed to capture the electric energy of a live event. Lyas recognized this gap and filled it with something fashion lacks: genuine communal experience.
La Caserne, a former fire station turned fashion incubator, hosted the Paris finale. Kitten Production, sharing a parent company with Bureau Betak (the industry’s premier set design firm), built that oversized laptop screen after reaching out to collaborate. Guests kissed a step-and-repeat wall with MAC’s red lipstick, nodding to Lyas’s signature aesthetic. QR codes let attendees rate looks in real time. When a particularly strong piece appeared, the venue erupted in cheers and screams.
Duran Lantink’s Jean Paul Gaultier debut provoked the most heated reactions during Paris Fashion Week. Reactions split the room, sparking instant debate. That live feedback loop creates energy impossible to replicate through solitary phone viewing, no matter how many emojis flood the comment section.
The €100,000 Gamble That Paid Off (But Not Financially)
Lyas funded La Watchparty with roughly $116,631 of personal money while earning nothing back. Corporate sponsors like Vinted and MAC offered complete creative freedom. Brands directly approved their inclusion on the schedule, with some declining and others changing positions after witnessing the events’ growing success. Isabel Marant and Dilara Findikoglu donated runway tickets for attendee raffles. Bottega Veneta to Chanel eventually appeared on the itinerary.
The operation grew tenfold between June and October. Lawyers, guest experience specialists, luxury brands, and Lyas’s brother (now working full-time for La Watchparty) manage logistics for the next phase. Eleven livestream events across three cities during one month operated without a guest list. Venues in Paris accommodated around 1,000 people per show.
“I was quite shocked at the number of people that came, first of all, and how good-willed they were,” Lyas stated. “Everyone was here for the love of fashion and to meet other people. And it’s crazy to think that there was no place that was offering a safe space like this for the fashion community before.”
Balancing his roles proved challenging. Some events found him hosting; others saw him racing through traffic-jammed Parisian streets on a moped, livestreaming his journey to actual shows. His unfiltered content previously triggered pushback from industry corners. Walking the line between relatability and exclusivity tests every creator who gains traction, but Lyas leans into both fanfare and fandom simultaneously.
His success underscores a simple truth: people crave shared experiences around fashion. Streaming a runway show costs nothing, unlike sports subscriptions. Yet nobody thought to gather crowds around these free broadcasts until Lyas turned his disappointment into an experiment. The 1.8-million-view viral response to that first Dior screening proved he’d struck something vital.
“I have never seen so many smiling faces at a fashion event,” he remarked. “What, you wanted something more bitchy?”
