Look back of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2022, France
Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2022 marks the inaugural Paris Fashion Week event for the year, last from 24-27 January 2022. Haute Couture is a French exception and as the name of the Federation indicates, it lies at the heart of fashion’s ecosystem. Tremendously modern, it is a permanent gateway between a tradition for excellence in know-how and contemporaneity in creation embodying today manufacturing techniques that are at the cutting edge of innovation. The Haute Couture collections are presented twice a year, in January and in July.
Due to its extraordinary nature, it has been granted a special status. Since 2010, its official calendar has hosted the Finest Jewellery Houses that are affiliated to the Federation. This initiative allows for synchronicity of presentations but also enables the history of two sectors with exceptional know-how and both in a state of endless reinvention to be played out in sequence.
The origins of Haute Couture are attributed to Charles Frederick Worth who in 1858 founded the first true Couture House at number 7, rue de la Paix in Paris. Before that Rose Bertin, Marie-Antoinette’s « Fashion Minister » had foreshadowed it, being the first to start freeing up the female body, all the while adorning her creations with embroidery, lace and rose petals.
Following a decision taken on January 23rd 1945, the designation “Haute Couture” became a legally registered designation of origin. Only those houses and companies that are approved each year by a dedicated commission run by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture and held under the aegis of the Ministry for Industry may become eligible for it.
Its primary field of interest being handmade work accomplished within these Houses’ workshops, a laboratory for ideas and techniques, a space where creativity can flourish freely: this is Haute Couture, whose international renown has always remained true to itself and has contributed to making Paris fashion capital of the world.
Haute Couture stands out by the uniqueness of original models created each year, and the customization of these models which are then crafted to fit the client’s measurements. Haute Couture as well as contemporary Haute Joaillerie heckles and sometimes trifles academic forms to adapt to the times. They bring an undeniable sensorial and imaginative supplement in addition to remaining extremely modern, often nourished by new technologies.
Paris Fashion Week (French: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Paris Fashion Week is part of the global “Big 4” fashion weeks, the others being London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. The schedule begins with New York, followed by London, and then Milan and ends in Paris.
In Paris, the biggest fashion brands present up to six collections a year: haute couture and/or ready-to-wear and/or menswear, spring-summer and autumn-winter. There are therefore several “Weeks” in the year, mainly two reserved for Haute Couture (January and July), two for Men’s fashion (January and June) and two others for ready-to-wear (March and September ).
The ready-to-wear week og Paris Fashion Week can be see up to a hundred brands fashion parade. In addition to ready-to-wear shows, there are men’s and haute couture shows, which are held semiannually for the spring/summer and autumn/winter seasons. French weeks are not similar if they concern haute couture or ready-to-wear. Because of their worldwide reputation, several international houses choose to parade in Paris for their ready-to-wear. Until 2010, Paris Fashion Week took place at the Carrousel du Louvre.
January 24
Schiaparelli
Maison Schiaparelli’s Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture show at Paris Fashion Week is a refreshing perspective of what the fashion world needs at this time of uncertainty. Inspired by a “mythical high priestess,” Roseberry’s latest collection is the definition of elegantly restrained luxury. The collection is filled with simple, tailored silhouettes alongside elaborate, heavily detailed gold structures. The effect is ethereal and magical—the juxtaposition between simplicity and intricacy is truly enchanting. Titled An Age of Discipline, Roseberry set out to create a collection full of drama without the loud colors and large silhouettes that one would expect. Instead, Roseberry created a collection consisting of only three colors: black, white, and the signature Maison Schiaparelli gold. All of the tricks that couture designers (including me) use to communicate grandeur and craftsmanship, big silhouettes, glorious poufs of fabric, huge volume.
After the rigor of tailoring and exhausting a new, sharper silhouette, she would embrace her inner Folly – giving way to fountains of gold, black plumage, creepy crawlies in cabochons, and a crystal cocktail dress like the inside of a jewelry box. This season orbits around an expansive redefinition of Schiaparelli gold. We have worked for seasons to perfect the shade—neither warm nor cool, neither brassy nor rose, this gold has been specifically formulated for the house, and includes pieces of 24k gold leaf. The design could achieve the same kind of drama and otherworldliness without relying on those tropes was black, white, and gold.
Ulyana Sergeenko
Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko looked to the Art Deco age for her latest couture collection, recalling the tumultuous present decade, but also to the now canonical roaring 1920s. The collection’s impish and mischievous mood is built around constructivist art, modernism, and the world of sports. This season the brand introduced a complete line of menswear looks, from accessories to a two-piece suit. Menswear was inspired by the remarkable adventurist Ostap Bender. One can face and overcome the flaws of the world by adhering to the laws of beauty. The spirit of an evening at the theatre and other aristocratic functions, emblematic of the turn of the century and art-deco, is implemented through the prism of a contemporary gaze, transforming colour-play, form, and texture into a multifaceted image, referencing to a pivotal fashion innovation brought to the global spotlight by Russian culture.
The collection is built around constructivist art, modernism, and the world of sports. Ulyana was also inspired by the work of the Soviet avant-garde painter Lyubov Popova. The collection places a particular emphasis upon athletics. Whistle-shaped diamondencrusted gold pendants establish a link between constructivist art and modern fashion. To strengthen this connection, the fashion house’s designers have created several types of men’s and women’s gloves, which reference sportswear models. Headpieces adopt not only the cascading crystal toilette of the 1920s, but also the silhouette of a swimming cap, bestrewn in an opulent finery of silk-petalled hydrangeas. Men’s and women’s footwear is inspired by vintage ice-skates. A clutch takes the form of a stylised, treasurable tennis racket encrusted with crystal flower arrangements and is paired with a mini-dress based on a tennis uniform. The sporting narrative extends to a knitted ‘sport instructor’ vest, seen in several menswear looks.
Georges Hobeika
Maison Georges Hobeika celebrates in its new spring-summer 2022 couture collection the delicious feeling of euphoria and the wonderful impression of invincibility produced by the first kiss. The enchanting euphoria, coupled with the sense of invincibility, reverberates within the Georges Hobeika Spring-Summer 2022 Couture collection, First Kiss. A blooming passion overflowing with electrifying tenderness and infinite possibilities is the muse for Maison’s romantic creations and its anthology of radiant silhouettes and precious fabrics, with a dazzling color palette that summons notions of idyll and self-renewal. Details of timelessness – butterflies, clocks, keys- and a soul aflutter with love are iterated in the First Kiss collection pieces.
Demonstrating to the richness of the Maison Georges Hobeika’s know-how, light and precious fabrics, sometimes laser-cut, swirl like butterfly wings, unfold their relief along majestic capes, compose intertwining petals or entwine the bodies with grace like a poetic cocoon on which luminous embroideries are blooming with sensuality. Celebrating the rebirth of flora and fauna, a theme dear to the great couturier, a myriad of twirling feathers, arranged in fringes or bouquets, evoke the joy of flight and the beauty of flowering. An ode to liberation, illuminated by a dazzling color palette where lilac, beige, citronelle, pink strawberry, radiant yellow and match green, bring forth a clarity that symbolizes newness and renewal.
Christian Dior
Christian Dior explore the interaction between decorative details and the human body, honors human relationships with handmade objects, expressing a desire to abolish the boundaries between art and craft once and for all.The body is thus a vector for breathing life into avant-garde projects. Embroidery becomes a three-dimensional conceptual act that reinvents the atelier’s techniques and elemental excellence. Silver lamé fabrics, white silhouette-grazing capes, and pleated skirts also brought focus to the interplay between clothing, body, and movement. It seemed as though the models were merely floating down the runway—the clothes were a natural extension of the body. The beauty is in the details, the intricate embroidery seen here could truly only be found in Dior Haute Couture. These embroidered patterns, through which Dior’s heritage is reinterpreted become the central element.
Christian Dior progresses through a choreography of movements and is not merely a decorative detail. It gives fabric its structure, its architecture. The embroidery, which stands out from – and interacts with – the material, rendering it evanescent and prompting an interplay with the surrounding air, as seen in the contrasting of a long, all-over embroidered ecru skirt with a sheer silk organza shirt. The tights, a signature of the collection, also derive their spectacular dimension from embroidery to establish a lively dialogue with different pieces, from a grisaille-bedecked grey suit to evening dresses that marry the finesse of embroidery with the lightness of tulle, through a series of draped leotards. Elsewhere, cashmere coats embrace the silhouette and sleek capes in resplendent white conceal jacket-and-pant ensembles. Pleated skirts billow under structured coats, while the silver lamé jacquard fabrics of dresses highlight each movement of the body.
Azzaro Couture
Azzaro Couture’s collection embracing all things shiny, simplicity and streamlining, mix more masculine and feminine codes, and have a more fluid balance. With fluidity as the watchword for the season, and it permeated the metallic-flecked knitted tunic-and-trouser combinations and louche, sheeny suits in moody shades of gray, caramel, and Russian blue. Cut to the strong yet minimalistic looks he created, such as the elongated lamé pants festooned with tiny sequins. The suiting, which comes with a twist. A classically cut jacket covered with silver sequins and matching pants is worn with a fluid, deep gray turtleneck shirt, adding some sartorial looks constructed with technical and flowing fabrics are echoed in the men’s wear. There’s a sensuality to the wider sleeves in chiffon and exposed backs, of dresses devoid of enigmatic heavy ornamentation.
Maison Rabih Kayrouz
Maison Rabih Kayrouz elevates classic shapes with elegant materials, explore the boundary between ready-to-wear and couture. The minor details discuss the difference between the bombast we often see on the runways and real-life wearability. Among the standouts here were a “diamond-cut” top, its geometric sleeves encasing the arms in structured volumes; a boxy blouson in lacquered black; a windbreaker made elegant by its technical taffeta, and the combination of a crisp poplin blouse paired with a midi skirt, both simple but sharply defined. Denim blazer is split up the sides, like most of his jackets, which gives it a cool, relaxed profile. A gold lamé blouse is seamed along the spine not the sides.
January 25
Chanel
Chanel’s collection as a tale of friendship and creativity dedicated to the magic of the Haute Couture. Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture show opened with brand ambassador and noted horsewoman Charlotte Casiraghi riding down the runway on horseback, reiterating the theme of this season’s collection as set in place by Virginie Viard that Chanel can be worn for any occasion. Chanel had a distinct sense of modernism to it. A feeling of freedom, of going beyond the boundaries. Contrasting the ultra-elegant with the real to create something that women truly want and wear today in all aspects of their lives.
The show’s décor which was the basis for Viard’s inspiration for this collection was created by French artist and sculpture Xavier Veilhan who is a close friend of Casiraghi and also uses horses within his artistic universe. Together with musician Sébastien Tellier who was performing live at the show using oversized instruments imagined by Veilhan, the three came together to form a close family around this collection presentation. The geometric lines of the scenography were reflected in the looks; Virginie Viard explains: “These geometric shapes made me want contrasts, a great lightness and a lot of freshness: ethereal dresses that float as if suspended. Lots of flounces, fringes, macramé, bright lace, iridescent tweeds, colourful jewelled buttons.
Alexis Mabille
Alexis Mabille’s collection reinterprets the brand’s Couture codes with a modern twist, and brings skin-embracing lingerie, dresses, tuxedos and shirts in voluptuous palette of nudes. Alexis Mabille’s collection made a case for “carnal Couture”, showing a concise lineup of 25 looks, most of them in nude tones with plays on texture, from tattoo-like lace to showers of tiny crystals or matte and shiny paillettes, which traces the body almost like a drop of perfume or a hint of makeup. Transparency combined with elements of lingerie and designer’s signatures—notably bows and shirting, stretched out and turned every which way— to form the through line of a collection that opened with a lace number worn off the shoulder with the ease of a t-shirt.
These fluid pieces were built around a canvas of elaborate lingerie-inspired pieces like bodysuits and bustiers in allover sequins or lace. Shirting shapes were reinterpreted and used in a diversity of ways. A piqué silk tailcoat robe flowed with buttons down the back, while collar shapes were used to create giant flaps atop a flowing striped dress or graphic shoulder details on a bodice. Elsewhere, the sportswear staple was made from black lamé, knotted around the waist to form the designer’s signature giant bow. Such corsetry details, also seen on some of the casimir silk gowns that are another house signature for Mabille, were more familiar territory.
Stéphane Rolland
Stéphane Rolland honored to Manfred Thierry Mugler through a collection of mostly monochromatic outfits. The couturier portray as free, beautiful, sensual without being aggressive, sought to describe a free gesture to achieve a more natural, more fluid, more organic image. Referencing the abstract, fan-like paintings of emerging Italian Spanish painter Viani through sleeves sweeping the floor, acres of chiffon and satin crepe wafting graphically behind them. When fabrics became more substantial, the silhouettes had a commanding presence.
Alexandre Vauthier
Alexandre Vauthier’s Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 Collection, that was inspired by the art, architecture and fashion of the 1920s in Paris and Berlin. The bold and glamorous collection explores movement, and burst of energy that comes after hard times. The collection that carried through some of the broad-shouldered, cinched suiting of his ready-to-wear collection, rendered this season in velvet, combined with plenty of sequins at play on gowns that showcased his signature glitz and glam.
Vauthier played with that softer silhouette and the experiment worked. Fluid, drop-waist dresses with plenty of diaphanous layers had a lightness, offset by more modern touches including his favorite Swarovski-studded slouchy boots. Vauthier also add a New York grit, shown against the stripped cement walls of a former fallout shelter and backed with thumping music that was capital L loud, there was little risk of that. A head-to-toe leopard look was a standout. High-necked minidresses with exaggerated puff sleeves had a harder edge and skin-tight dresses with hip cutouts made it clear he hasn’t lost his rock ‘n’ roll roots.
Ronald van der Kemp
Ronald van der Kemp showed couture collection in the virtual world, the metaverse intentionally making the designs and models look like avatars through the screen. Ever the sustainability champion, the designer put his eclectic architectural hand to a variety of techniques. He questioned the waste generated by cut flowers, experimenting in order to preserve them and integrate them into his designs.
A lot of the looks were hand-painted by the designer himself Pewter found in a thrift shop was melted down to create a bodice and delicate jewelry pieces with an Art Deco feel, involving extensive experimentation in the atelier. That design school was also referenced in a graphic skirt made to look like stained glass with an appliqué of crêpe de chine. A ruffled silk moiré bustier dress compared to “whipped cream,” incorporating real roses.
January 26
Franck Sorbier
Franck Sorbier joyful collection “Ode of Life” sensibilisation and of new ways of thinking, drawing the pillars of a unique brand DNA. This collection has turned out to be a true tsunami of successive waves. The water war started a long time ago. and The stakes are, still, underestimated by most of the inhabitants of our planet. As far back as we can see in the history of humanity, great civilizations have always been built around water. The Nile and the Egypt of the pharaohs are one of the indisputable proofs of this.
This season is placed under the sign of renewal and color. It was about coming back face-to-face with actors, divas, dancers, and models. Everything had to be given up and the true ambitions reviewed. The spell is broken. Farewell to the enchanting little world of the banks of waterways inhabited by feverishness and carelessness. Forgotten, silent turtles, exuberant tree frogs, levant goldfish, delicate salamanders, fragile hummingbirds, and bewitching water spiers…
Zuhair Murad
Zuhair Murad’s couture collection transports us to a universe of mysterious hidden islands and revives the grandeur of the age of navigating the high seas. As for all romantics, telling extravagant stories suspended beyond time is a way of finding a new life in dreams. What inspired his couture collection were visions of Byron-esque 18th-century pirates, roaming the high seas chasing chimeras of lost treasures.
Sensual pirates bedecked with ornate jewels emerge from a spectacular wreck to set off once more to conquer uncharted lands. The silver embroidery on their outfits has darkened, in striking contrast to the tangles of gold chains and pearls slung from their slender waists. The designer has envisioned for them a wardrobe at the crossroads of the Grand Siècle and the digital era with exquisitely ethereal presences, clad in sumptuous tenues de soirée fit for grand entrances or bedecked in clouds of tulle tattooed with replicas of old nautical charts and constellations and tightly corseted in tangles of pearls and aged-gold chains.
Valentino
Valentino’s haute couture collection, an haute experiment in dressing women with a variety of body frames. The collections for the house deliver on the artful, bold use of color and impeccable silhouette work that have defined his time as creative director, as well as offer genuinely inventive propositions for what fashion can be. The Italian designer decided to break the couture tradition of fitting collections on a single-fit model and embrace a broader spectrum of humanity in terms of age and body shape. He relished the challenge of creating couture outfits that would best dignify and exalt the beauty of each individual, achieving the purpose of couture in the first place. To rouse interest among design students, diversity proponents — and anyone with more than a passing curiosity about why we find some bodies more beautiful than others.
Valentino demonstrated his versatility and craftsmanship while only using two colors: pink and black, the theme was clear: pink, the inspiration behind many designers’ work—most notably Elsa Schiaparelli and her “shocking pink.” Piccioli led a visitor to a mood board of images from across millennia that depicted shifting preferences for body shapes: At times a vogue for “verticalism” prevailed, as in the Middle Ages; at others softer, horizontal shapes were more appreciated, also mentioning the advent of plastic surgery in the ’90s, which introduced new, artificial possibilities.
Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier’s collection for J spring 2022 couture shows a refreshing and graceful interpretation of the brand that innovative signatures reverberate throughout while honoring the distinctive essence of Gaultier. Glenn Martens managed to preserve the aesthetic vision of the brand, transforming it through the lens of his own reality. He unveils his vision of Gaultier haute couture by bringing vintage prints back to the runway, like an optical illusion technique and Gaultier’s favorite stripe.
The collection is designed with calm gray, beige and black colors. Designers used lots of fabrics such as satin, velvet and knitwear. The highlight of the collection became translucent multi-layered dresses and dresses with sleeves that can be turned into gloves. The unrestrained spirit of the collection was enhanced by accessories. Massive flower earrings, various shapes clutches, corsets and platform shoes gave the show a truly empyreal atmosphere.
Viktor&Rolf
Viktor&Rolf Haute Couture collection create spectacular beauty, utilizing their work to transform the notion of fear into something positive. The Surreal Shoulder collection, that uses emotion of fear creatively, was inspired by the old Hollywood Dracula movies and their dramatic effects of light and shadow that create a feeling of suspense. The collection was also inspired by the look from the brand’s 1993 collection, that had an exaggerated, high shoulderline, creating a distorted, elongated silhouette. This season, the brand treats the human figure as if it was stretched to a maximum, glorifying the head and face while protecting the neck. The notion of fear made fashion artists Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren think of the glamorous allure of old Hollywood Dracula movies, where dramatic effects of light and shadow transform reality and create a feeling of alienation and suspense.
Dracula’s tuxedo with cape is one of the most iconic outfits in Hollywood. Taking this look as a starting point, most outfits are stark and monochromatic with a ‘gothic’ feel. For the first time since a couple of seasons, the collection includes an important section of tailoring. Its play with proportions is typical of Viktor&Rolf’s stylistic vocabulary. Furthermore, a wide variety of dresses is shown, ranging from billowy sheaths to sculptural ballgowns. Fabrics are either crisp or gauzy, but always compact to support the architectural shapes. Colours are muted, playing on contrasts of dark and light, with some delicate pastels, chalk white and the occasional pop of cerise red. The only decoration can be found on a trio of floorlength evening dresses in black and white, pale pink and black. Each one is hand embroidered in an artwork of diaphanous, wilting flowers, executed in scraps of delicate fabric, beads and paillettes.
Elie Saab
Elie Saab spring couture collection bursting with his signature brights, putting his mood of optimism on display at the Carreau du Temple with a collection inspired by the Garden of Eden, or at least the Mediterranean, with gowns in bougainvillea pinks and orchid purples. A lush spectrum of full-skirted silhouettes and bedecked with frivolous feathers, rhinestones, beads, and sequins to a soundtrack of cicadas with organza bougainvillea, the ultimate signifier of summer sunshine.
The Lebanese designer opened with strong capes that set the tone for the collection. Floral motifs appeared as subtle cascades of gentle buds on long gowns, overtly in large appliqués on a variety of lengths. As always, the hand embroidery was exquisite, but on leaf prints it lacked clarity from afar. Several looks were topped with cool crystal cage masks, adding an air of mystery. The swoosh of a silver and pink beaded minidress was audible and delightful, and had a power shoulder that added a much needed bit of edge to the lineup. The best looks were absolute showstoppers in satin: statement turns in fuchsia, plum and chartreuse with floral flourishes at the neck and shoulder.
Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra’s digital presentation for Paris Haute Couture Week Spring/Summer 2022 draws from this ideology and finds its roots in the bounties of the Himalayas, the collection is a desire to explore the elaborate biodiversity of the Himalayas and the complexities of nature. The moodboard for Rahul Mishra’s Spring Couture 2022 collection is a desire to experience the extraordinary aspects of nature. The chimerical and romantic concepts such as stargazing in a field of flowers form the basis of his couture looks that are adorned with floral embroideries. This collection is a love poem to nature and a humble tribute to the elaborate biodiversity of Himalayas. It speaks of a new realm that is beyond the complexities of material living, its rights and wrongs. Where all words are too loud to be spoken and the only language is of peace.
The clothes their silhouettes are determined by the path of these blossoming creatures embroidered with astute details and enhanced by colour. Jackets, gowns and ballooning tops are all made a burst of psychedelic colours and textures. Even as we are on the fence about the purple ballgown with a Kanye West-inspired face covering. our hearts are blushing with the brilliance of blooms. Not limited by circumstances of being unable to showcase with a physical show, contained fantasies in the atelier and translated them into clothes built up with the intricacies of handcraft and psychedelic dreams. A flirtation between layers of reality, imagination and surrealist expression, the pieces of embroidery installations soak-in the spirit of nature and reimagine it. Some pieces aim to imitate nature and its elements through various applications of handcraft, forming an arrangement of Himalayan poppies, foxgloves, calla lilies amongst others, onto the surface.
Charles de Vilmorin
Charles de Vilmorin Haute Couture Collection examines space between dreams and reality, with a fashion film by The Quiffs x Zite & Léo. The Macabre Waltz collection explores a carnival of the psyche, where passion and creativity overcome the fear. The designer highlights the importance of expressing yourself, and sends the message of hope. The film tells the story of a young boy who after midnight whips up outfits on his sewing machine for the skeletons gathered in his spooky mansion. It reads like a fan letter to Tim Burton, but de Vilmorin brings his own Baroque, theatrical sensibility to the mix, with a sequence in which a skeleton dances with the boy, alongside assorted characters dressed in his colorful creations, against a raging fire.
Tent-like robes and nightgowns were covered in his signature swirly drawings, while items like a flame red dress and a poisonous green tunic were festooned with fabric skeletons on the front. Best of all was an electric blue sequined smock dress, trimmed with ostrich feathers, covered in a constellation of silver embroidery. These are 11 silhouettes that burn like fire, textures with shine and sparkle, feathers, fringing, an enormous transparent red cape. It’s a carnival of the psyche, where festivity clashes with fear, where demons and cursed skeletons can’t help but burst into laughter. A unique moment offered by the Haute Couture week to bring to life, with one’s own hands, what is going on in one’s own head.
January 27
Aelis
Aelis’ collection adding vintage elements with the idea of memory and time this season, that layered a bit of a darker edge. Antique lace, jewelry and crystals from the collection were repurposed with an intimate touch, and Crociani worked again with light-as-air mousseline and tulle for her sherbet-colored sheer gowns. Stronger, sculptural pieces were rendered in satin, such as a deep purple minidress which wrapped up and around the body in one grand swoop. Another was a white jacket, embellished with lace and crystals, that sat atop a pair of vintage Levi’s Red Tab cutoffs. The surprising combination of duchesse and denim was meant to evoke the memory of the pre-social media ’90s, grunge and Kurt Cobain.
Yuima Nakazato
Yuima Nakazato’s couture collection “LIMINAL”, inspired for this collection is the Chimera, a fantastical creature long relegated to the world of myth and legend. The nebulous space where fiction becomes fact—born from the confluence of cutting-edge technology and ancient wisdom—could be said to represent the pinnacle of humanity’s achievements thus far. The collection’s title, LIMINAL, was chosen to symbolise this ambiguous domain of limitless values and possibilities.
With certain fantasy element, the designs themselves hewed closer to reality than recent seasons. Out came coats, tunics and even simple floor-length dresses worn over wide-legged trousers. If one of his proprietary Type-1 snaps could be spotted, it was only because their presence is expected as a Nakazato signature. His futuristic endeavors and the handcrafts of yesteryears. A handful of designs even featured, gasp, seams, despite his focus on assembling clothing without needle and thread in recent years. Applying learnings from his bio-smocking experiments to natural-fiber fabrics, he teased volume out of rectangular patterns by pulling gowns into shape by cords.
Julie de Libran
Julie de Libran’s couture collection continues to represent classic values, the things that embody them bring special comfort and reassuring solidity: a perfect croissant; the medici fountain in the luxemburg gardens; a beatles song. She describes her output as reworked classics, emphasis on reworked. Collection have all the classic stylishness women want in a little black dress, but one has a bare back, another is adorned with feathers, and another has cuffs and a white lining.
Christophe Josse
Christophe Josse presented the Collection with a fashion film, as a part of the recently finished Paris Fashion Week. For this season, designer presented a carefree, casual collection inspired by holidays and radiance of the summer. The colourways match the inspiration, with shades of ecru, chalk, ivory, pale yellow and tea rose. There, in the distance, stands Paris, peacefu and majestic. With an ecru gauze trench-blouse and sequin shorts, a guipre waistcoat with bronze cargo trousers and a corolla dress in rosewood gauze, fluid silhouettes stand out in skilful counterpoint on the building’s ochre walls.
Fendi
Fendi’s Haute Couture collection revealed an array of Renaissance-inspired creations with a focus on architecture and sculpture. Long trains, cape dresses, and even separates walked the runway, all of this coalesced into a sci-fi theme for terrific spring couture collection, one that straddled a few millennia of fashion ideas since “sci-fi costumes always reference historic dress. The opening display at the Palais Brogniart, the glowing outlines of a fractured temple hovering in the dark. She stormed through a slim, smoke-filled portal in a glistening black column with a side slit, its tight rows of tubular beads catching the light in a way that looked almost pixelated. With a focus on structure—the set itself displayed a floating skeleton of arches and columns—many of the silhouettes were long and lean, accentuated by vertical lines and embellishments. High-shine beaded looks added to the couture-level adornment in the collection, which were mirrored by the models’ rhinestone-dotted faces.
That long, lean silhouette predominated, which Jones stretched even further with radical platform shoes without heels. A few exits of monastic tailoring ultimately yielded to an array of goddess dresses, most of them long columns. A short mink cape and long velvet column bearing ghostly hand-painted images of classical sculptures; a papal purple minidress bearing baroque embellishments reminiscent of Corinthian reliefs, and a series of bustier dresses bearing photo prints of opulent fabrics further exalted with mother-of-pearl embroideries. Simpler gowns were equally ravishing, with gleaming bodices and chiffon draped over one shoulder. There were a few truly loose dresses, including a stunner of a blanket style banded in beads.
Imane Ayissi
Imane Ayissi’s collection “Foufoulou”, continued to explore the theme of cultural exchange. Borrowed from West African textile cultures, with their meaningful printed pagnes, as well as from the culture of the T-shirt with messages, here applied to Haute-Couture, the first proclaims loud and clear the need to come together. In the Ewondo language of Cameroon, the word signifies both “mixed” and “together” and it was splashed across many of the designs in this festive, colorful lineup, the slogans injecting a youthful feel.
On a bright green dress in Calais lace, it was written out in script with purple sequins. Other designs featured appliqué block lettering stitched together to create graphic gowns. Square cuts and flowing fabric nodded to the traditional “boubou,” but were worked in high-end fabrics like silk or in a draped jersey made from bamboo fiber. His brightly hued taffeta pieces had a noble elegance, with long raffia fringing that took on the aspect of a tribal mask when used on the back of one look. Tailored pieces were made with a fabric dyed using the adire method from Nigeria, or worked in kente fabric from Ghana for a belted jacket dress.
Rucci
Rucci’s collection with certain pragmatism to sophisticated designs, and his focus is largely on a life lived away from the red carpet. Rucci show at least 25 looks in a live show or virtually. Rucci focus on clothes that are “quiet in their luxury and incredible in their technique,” as he put it. His designs are exacting, featuring clean lines and meticulous, made in New York craftsmanship. Rucci often likes to get below the surface when it comes to embellishment and is known for his “articulated” looks, wherein solids are suspended on transparent cloth, or delicate tulle insets are combined with double-face wool.