Paris Couture Week: Firsts, Lasts(?), and Loads of Frill
Tucked between women's ready-to-wear shows and men's fashion weeks in Milan and Paris, the latter's haute couture stagings are something of a breather. Quite ironic, seeing as the designs on display are far from lightweight: Highly intricate, price-upon-request gowns glide across the runway, never to hit traditional store shelves.
While it's unlikely to ever purchase what we see here, the dreamy, mostly female-focused haute couture collections tend to inform – within the broadest of parameters at least – the aesthetics of the main line, or even other fashion houses.
Re: the men's shows, and likely a preview into women's, the défilés hosted an armada of embellished jewel tones and pastels, purples and pinks, dramatic exaggerations of shape, as well as altogether fanciful codes of dress from other eras – if not other worlds entirely.
And though the luxury market's seen better days, Hermès, for instance, is said to be workshopping their very own bespoke offering, pointing toward a somewhat anticlimactic, Wirkin-defiant upswing of utmost exclusive goods.
So, if none of the above will get you to bat an eye at Paris couture week and acknowledge made-to-measure's broader relevance, I'm frankly not sure what will. But before I give up, how about a little show-don't-tell?
Armani Privé
Only few mainstream, non-French companies have met the difficult, committee-set standards of couture – and Giorgio's one of them. Under the Privé moniker, the Italian put forward an array of glittery pant suits, tubular dresses, and 1920s hair accessories. The deep and light blues very much reminded of his recent, lauded menswear showing. See, told ya!
Chanel
The Chanel conversation's been a complicated one ever since Karl Lagerfeld left us. But now, without the former's right-hand-woman-gone-successor, and ahead of Mathieu Blazy's highly anticipated assumption of office, the French house feels in an extraordinary state of limbo.
This isn't to say that anything presented was bad, per se. More so, it raises the question of just how much it reveals, if anything, about where the brand is actually headed.
Dior
After what was rumored – and later confirmed – to be Kim Jones' curtain call, another Dior head-of who people are speculating might leave gave us her vision of what is couture. Maria Grazia Chiuri co-helmed Valentino at one point, and is therefore a more seasoned participant of these events.
Not unheard of this fashion month, there was a certain mythology and esotericism at the base of these bedazzled and feathered dresses that both foster and stem from vivid fantasies.
Jean Paul Gaultier
As part of an ongoing guest edit series, Jean Paul Gaultier's latest couture range was conceived of by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Having made a name for himself with sensual, androgynous menswear, the former Ann Demeulemeester creative director's take on JPG took aim at the latter's love for corsetry, boned body-con, and the sailor theme, in what was a career-first jab at couture.
Schiaparelli
Daniel Roseberry never ceases to amaze an audience, nor does he insist his guests took all this too seriously. It is, by now, perhaps the most lusted-after show of couture week, though the Texan's "only" been in charge of the revived maison since 2019 – quite a feat to just about overshadow such tough, anchored, and storied competition.
As has become tradition, it was an opulent breadth of sculptural blacks and whites and golds. It's something of a return to form, following a non-couture stint last year that almost felt a little too ready-to-wear by comparison.
Valentino
But speaking of the balance beam that can be to try and manage prêt-à-porter and couture, Alessandro Michele just made his debut of the latter at his new job. The Italian whose kitschy taste made Gucci a roaring hit after years of sedation, is now tasked to touch up Valentino.
Though the brand was by no means minimalist under Pierpaolo Piccioli, this force of ornamental maximalism with which Michele came bashing through the door is astounding. It leaves both fan and foe with plenty to digest, and is a prism glimpse into what's to come.
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