5 highlights from Paris Haute Couture Week, from space-age silhouettes to a princess on horseback
Haute Couture, which is French for "high dressmaking," is the most opulent and well-guarded fashion classification, created by an invite-only club of the world's most renowned designers.
Haute Couture Week, which takes place twice a year in Paris, provides a rare view into this opulent world, where aesthetic escapism, remarkable craftsmanship, and one-of-a-kind costumes with five-figure price tags are normal.
Its most recent iteration, for the Spring-Summer 2022 season, has recently ended. While there is always glitz and grandeur, this year's event was unlike any other.
For one thing, the fashion world was mourning the passing of Thierry Mugler, a designer whose theatricality and ingenuity revolutionised the couture world as we know it. There were, nevertheless, some breakthroughs. Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of Valentino, defied the couture standard of employing waif-like, youthful models by casting a diverse spectrum of body types and ages.
Meanwhile, at Schiaparelli, the surreal elements that artistic director Daniel Roseberry has mastered shined through, replete with the media frenzy around Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Julia Fox's participation at the show.
The fact that these events took place on social media rather than behind closed doors in Paris is a reflection of the times. Haute Couture will always be expensive due to the high level of craftsmanship and specialized materials required, but it is increasingly becoming a prism of the zeitgeist — a blending of sartorial, celebrity, and sociological influences.
Fendi looks to the heavens for inspiration.
Kim Jones, who was recruited as the brand's artistic director during the epidemic, debuted a Fendi couture collection in front of a live audience for the first time. He was inspired by the spirituality of Fendi's native city, Rome, for the new season.
Jones explored an enticing notion of what could lie beyond, with undertones of Christianity and allusions to the heavens, in a religious sense. In an astronomical sense, the result was statuesque and magnificent gowns with styling that imitated the heavens.
'Dance of Death' by Charles de Vilmorin
Spring may normally be associated with rebirth and renewal, but Charles de Vilmorin's Spring-Summer 2022 couture collection dealt directly with death, although in a youthful, innocent fashion. The 10-look collection was showcased in a short film called "La Danse Macabre" ("The Dance of Death"), which depicted a youthful De Vilmorin cavorting with a skeleton in his childhood bedroom.
The designer gave the presentation a cinematic, Pop Art flair that almost felt Tim Burton-esque as the credits rolled, so the tone was far from somber.
'Planet Schiaparelli' life
Schiaparelli reintroduced couture to the runway after a two-year hiatus, and Daniel Roseberry's latest creations spoke of possibilities, the universe, and the emptiness of the unknown. This collection was dubbed "Planet Schiaparelli" by the designer and his crew.
Stallions racing from heaven's gate, away from some extraterrestrial sun and into the clouds, were featured in one outfit's complex threadwork, which was applied by hand to black silk. Roseberry's Haute Couture Week show was packed with otherworldly flourishes and space-age designs, as seen by the Saturn-inspired Schiaparelli earrings that Adele wore during her "One Night Only" television special.
Having a good time at Chanel
Virginie Viard, Chanel's creative director, is known for staging presentations and collections that are significantly less grandiose than Karl Lagerfeld's. Nonetheless, she proved this season that she knows how to create a splash in her quiet way.
She launched the label's Haute Couture show on Tuesday by riding Charlotte Casiraghi down the catwalk. The Monegasque princess is a skilled showjumper in her own right, and the approach paid off, as the video went viral on social media.
Valentino defies the rules of couture.
Pierpaolo Piccioli challenged some of the couture's most stringent conventions with his Spring-Summer 2022 collection. He designed for a diversity of body shapes and ages, rather than focusing only on young, skinny models.
What's the result? The collection, which was shown on gray-haired and average-sized models, is as stunning as — if not more beautiful than — those we've come to anticipate from Valentino. Piccioli's capacity to modify our perceptions of beauty standards, even in the traditional upper echelons of high fashion, was proved in this way.
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