Haute Couture Fashion Week took place in Paris. All the shows were held online, so many designers, in addition to clothes, paid attention to the format in which they presented couture collections. A magical fairy tale was told by Christian Dior, a lush wedding in rustic style was organized by Chanel. Other brands used the moment to build a dialog with the audience and talk about their achievements. The new season also saw the return of Albert Elbaz, five years after he left his post as creative director of Lanvin. Elbaz, like others, was able to surprise us, as couture is in a rather precarious position in a world where all events are banned.
SCHIAPARELLI
Although Daniel Roseberry has not yet reached the two-year mark at Schiaparelli, his decisive moment has arrived. Last Wednesday at the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, Lady Gaga wore a black fitted jacket, a red silk ball skirt and a gold dove brooch.
I'm blown away, to be honest. It was such an honor," said Roseberry, a Texas native. - I remember when Tom [Brown] dressed Michelle Obama for the second inauguration [Brown is Roseberry's mentor]. Whenever anyone wrote about him afterward, for years, that was one of his major honors. For a house like Schiaparelli," he continued, "to dress Gaga for the inauguration speaks to the fact that we captured the moment. That's what I'm trying to do - capture the zeitgeist.
IRIS VAN HERPEN
Iris van Herpen once again explodes and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in her spring couture collection.
Fashion is exclusive because it is unique. It's not just that the designs are suited to a particular client, but that they are handmade from the finest materials, ensuring that no two are alike. By creating one-off pieces made with 3D printing, Iris Van Herpen has shown that unique designs can also be created with technology.
In spring, the Dutch couturier launched Ocean Plastic® fabric in collaboration with Parley for the Oceans. The material is made from recycled marine debris and, according to Van Herpen, is of high quality.
'Of course, [couture] customers expect the highest quality, so you can't maintain sustainability if you reduce quality,' she said. - 'Now the quality [between organic silk and recycled polyester] is the same. Now it's really a matter of choice rather than quality. To use sustainable materials, we have to change our mindset.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
The Christian Dior Haute Couture collection is directly linked to the idea of fortune-telling with tarot cards. Maria Grazia Chiuri opted for one of the mysterious, mystical symbols that pop up in catastrophic times when mankind tries to negotiate with fate.
What I liked about the idea of tarot is that when you get into a difficult moment, something magical can help us, help us think better," she said.
The emotional impact of isolation during the pandemic is one of the reasons she went down this path.
We've been alone for a long time. We're much more likely to think about different aspects of ourselves and our lives," Maria Grazia Chiuri remarked. - I think this year has changed us a lot.
She entrusted the interpretation of the movie to director Matteo Garrone.
We decided to make a story about this girl who enters a castle. It's a labyrinth that represents an inner journey. When she meets each of the tarot figures, she has to make a decision about her life. On the other hand, she meets aspects of her personality and learns not to fear the future.
The protagonist meets the High Priestess, Restraint, Justice and Death. Destiny comes, obviously, in a symbolic fusion of the masculine and feminine.
The collection features corset bodices with exaggerated waists in the Renaissance style, majestic brocade robes and dresses made of delicate pleated fabric.
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI
In his new couture collection, Giambattista Valli stayed true to his vision, which no lockdown has managed to shake. He used volumes that are so close to his heart and have long been a characteristic of Giambattista Valli.
Sometimes I look at other haute couture houses and see a lot of embellishment. Couture is not about embellishment. Couture is about shapes," he stated. - When you sketch a ready-to-wear garment, you have to be a designer. When you create couture, you have to be a sculptor. That's the distinction: when you're constructing something and when you're embellishing.
He used every tool at his fingertips - slash cut, dégradé and miles of taffeta - to create impressively voluminous outfits for the new haute couture collection.
VALENTINO
After almost a year, it's only now that we're starting to see fashion's true response to the pandemic. Valentino's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has had plenty of time to apply his skills and those of his staff to create what can be called a new vision for everyday fashion.
My idea is to witness the moment," he shared.
He named the collection Temporal, which means living in the here and now, and created handmade clothes that will outlive the trends.
It's more about things that give ease," Piccioli shared. - The narrative of the collection is the collection itself. There are no stories. Nothing figurative. I wanted to work in the here and now, but not in a decorative sense, but in craftsmanship, which is the meaning.
It would be silly to reduce it to percentages, but the ratio of Valentino casual wear to evening wear actually changed this time. Clothes that could be categorized as hoodies, sweaters, shirts, shorts and sweatshirts appeared, serving as a backdrop for amazing mesh coats and sculptural capes. The collection has an aura of a new type of minimalism, slightly reminiscent of the 90s.
For the first time, the Valentino show featured menswear.
Fashion for people. I don't care about gender This is a fluid and boundless inspiration: trench for men and women," said Pierpaolo.
CHANEL
This season, Chanel creative director Virginie Viard heard wedding bells on the Rue Cambon - not her own, she's been happily married to her partner, composer Jean-Marc Fiot, for a quarter of a century. Instead, wedding party bells were ringing: the collection featured 32 bridal-inspired gowns.
This is not the usual fashion wedding you'd expect from a Parisian couture collection, as Viard says. It's "a more bohemian style - more like a wedding or family celebration in the countryside than a party at the Ritz!".
This wedding also features boys, or rather girls, who are, in Viard's words, "little garçonne" and dressed in old-fashioned boyish clothes (e.g., tweed oxford bags and vests reminiscent of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's heritage and use of menswear in her designs and literal borrowings of items from the closets of her lovers, including Boy Capel and the Duke of Westminster). The mother of the bride has chic silver embroidered and lace suits to choose from or an elegant embroidered cardigan, while more adventurous guests can opt for a lace jumpsuit or a tiny tweed trench coat dress with a ruffle skirt.
There are lots of flounces and petticoats, says Viard, as if gypsy kings were playing at the party and guests in big tulle skirts were about to twirl around the town square. But there is masculinity and femininity in the silhouettes.
AZ FACTORY
Welcome back, Alber Elbaz! Five long years since he parted ways with Lanvin, one of fashion's most beloved personalities - a man who always heard women - is starting anew with AZ Factory, a design brand that strives to do almost everything differently. It's named after the first and last letters of his name, things are pretty affordable, and sizes range from XXS to XXXXL.
'I did a lot of observing,' Elbaz says of his time away from fashion. - 'I didn't want to do pre-collections, post-collections anymore. I had to question the present and the future. I had so many questions: the world, women, technology, needs have changed... so how will the industry change?
He's passionate about technology, embracing sustainable fashion, embracing body positivity - all things that in 2016 seemed incredibly far away. After looking around, he spends his time teaching, reading, visiting Silicon Valley, listening to female friends, and exploring new technologies in fabric making. Elbaz came to the conclusion that it was time for a completely modernized approach to fashion.
I thought: what is the purpose of design today? To think, but not to be intellectual. How can I help women? I wanted to work on new technology to develop some smart fabrics with factories to create beautiful and solution-based fashion. It's for everyone.
Like a manifesto, AZ Factory's first offering is "My Body": a set of dresses designed with ergonomics in mind for all shapes and sizes. Its meaning is super modern, practical, empathetic and (a word that's relevant everywhere except in the fashion industry) kind.
'Over the course of five years, I've seen women I've met at lunch who are struggling with their weight, and it's often been hard to watch,' Elbaz says. - Even in the '50s, fashion dictated what was right and wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong with that! But I've chosen a taboo topic that almost no one wants to talk about, but I will. We're not here to change women, we're here to embrace diversity.
He explains that his dream was "to create a magic dress out of knitwear and make an anatomical cut. There are areas that are a little thicker and areas that are more petite. I made the skirt looser, so that the girl can walk faster or dance if she wants to."
This is typical Elbaz - he thinks about the actual use of the garment.
