‘Escape from our complicated reality’: A rush at haute couture
As the pinnacle of fashion, the haute couture collections that dazzled Paris runways are a balm for the world-weary.
In tricky times could there ever be more need for fantastical fashion?
Yes, the haute couture shows, the pinnacle of fashion – entirely handcrafted by specialist ateliers and fully bespoke – may only be for the 0.0001 per cent. But that’s beside the point.
As Daniel Roseberry, artistic director of surrealist fashion house Schiaparelli, said ahead of his show: “Haute couture aspires to reach great heights; it promises escape from our complicated reality.”
If looking at feats of material mastery and extravagant gowns are a balm for the world-weary, then we all ought to take our medicines.
This season a sense of fantasy – enormous hoop skirts and dresses that could barely fit through a doorway – permeated throughout.
Corsets, often a look de mode of the couture, could be found at the likes of Dior, with riffs on its famous Bar Jacket silhouette, and with the exaggerated waists at Schiaparelli.
A certain command of the body – always a subject of fascination at Schiaparelli – was readily apparent.
This wonder – and perhaps acknowledgment that the world is topsy-turvy – could be found in the sources of inspiration this season.
This includes The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland at Christian Dior, where creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri explored her inner child with a playful collection that incorporated silhouettes of pannier and cage skirts, paired with frilly bloomers.
A much-needed feeling of lightness was on offer at Chanel too, where the house is awaiting the arrival of new creative director Matthieu Blazy, expected later this year.
This collection – light, pretty, frothy – made full use of Chanel’s well-protected “Metiers d’art” for its takes on the tweed skirt suit and evening dresses.
The maison has bought up many small and exceptional suppliers, such as button makers and embroiderers, and housed them in its purpose-built Le 19M building on the outskirts of Paris.
It showed just how well the Creative Studio understands the codes of Chanel.
As an aside, what a palette cleanser, also, to see pastels – from pistachio to lemon and sugary sherbet – on a runway.
Fantasy was the order of the day too for the season’s most anticipated debut, that of fashion’s ultimate magpie, Alessandro Michele for Valentino.
It was Michele’s first couture collection and it’s readily apparent just how much he has relished fossicking through the maison’s archives.
In addition to references to Valentino’s past – in such things as the ruffles and polka dots – the collection included nods to everything from medieval nuns to silent movie stars, Marie Antoinette and the Catholic Church, as well as other couturiers of note, Paul Poiret, and Charles Frederick Worth.
It was a lot, but of course when it comes to Michele, we would gladly expect nothing less.
As a counter, Italian maestro Giorgio Armani, this year celebrating the 20th anniversary since he too was a haute couture debutant in Paris, showed with his signature shimmering liquid gowns and embellished and embroidered jackets that elegance can be powerful in a whisper too.
Collaboration is another way the couture shows keep a stake in the culture at large, and Jean Paul Gaultier perhaps knows this best.
For the past eight seasons he has invited a guest designer to collaborate with his atelier and design a collection that riffs on his own language, and legacy.
This time it was Paris-based designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin, known for his racy collections. The result? Something akin to magical sexy mermaids with corseted looks and sequined skirts that looked a little like scales.
Another way to plug in? The celebrity factor.
Surely Chanel wins for the most A-lister-packed front row with the likes of Dua Lipa (just announced as the face of the Chanel 25 handbag campaign), Pamela Anderson, Lily-Rose Depp and her mother, Vanessa Paradis, and Kylie Jenner all sitting pretty.
As with all haute couture shows, when you look past the surface extravagance, it’s the details that make it special.
This could be seen throughout the shows, from the sculptural padding at Schiaparelli to the intricate cobwebby lacework at Christian Dior, and at Valentino, an ode to the heartbeat of craft with such things as floral tapestry and crochet.
As industry publication The Business of Fashion noted, there was much this season that the fabulously wealthy could wear.
“Around the world, the happy few are both happier (at least in financial terms) and fewer,” noted Angelo Flaccavento.
“As such, haute couture, with price tags soaring into the hundreds of thousands, is as relevant today as it was a century ago.”
As it was a century ago, the rest of us can sit back and admire it – the rush is entirely for free. Meanwhile, the fashion circus rolls on, with the ready-to-wear shows kicking off in New York on Thursday, followed by London, Milan and Paris.
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