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Since the 19th century, haute couture has sought to combine ancient craftsmanship with the evolving needs of its customers in a changing social context, offering exquisite elegance to the lucky few who could afford it. “Haute couture has been responsible for keeping France’s preeminence on the world map, both in terms of creation and know-how, and it also acts as a repository of traditions that date back to Louis XIV,” Alice Richer, professor at the Institute of French Fashion in Paris, explained in an interview.
The aftermath of last week’s Haute Couture Fashion Week and the decisive French elections, At a time of general unrest in the country, with politics increasingly prominent on ready-to-wear runways, the couture collections have brought the focus back to the clothes, offering quiet excellence for some and a much-needed space of fantasy for others.
A few weeks after Chanel announced Creative director Virginie Viard steps down The house (who replaced Karl Lagerfeld in 2019) presented a new collection, albeit one designed by the studio. Presented at the grand Opéra Garnier, it was a quiet, understated exploration of elegance, safely based in the house’s established, generational style vocabulary: richly embroidered and bejeweled pastel tweeds, skirt suits adorned with ruffled sleeves, long dress coats, hair tied back in oversized black ribbons, and, fittingly given the venue, opera capes aimed at a clientele who travels and dine but isn’t too keen on social media-friendly clothing.
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Chanel’s latest couture show was designed by an in-house team, without a creative director.
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This collection is a testament to refined elegance.
At Patou, the Rose collection also suggested a quiet exhilaration. “This season we want the Patou woman to be committed, but not necessarily to appear committed. We want her to be, above all, fresh,” creative director Guillaume Henry said backstage, perhaps signaling a departure from the performative activism of recent years. Showing everyday pieces in candy and floral prints, tailored denim, functional knitwear, shirt dresses, and accessories that played with neck scarves and gold details, Henry described his work at Patou as “a fusion of elegance, form, simplicity and joy.” As the show notes emphasized, these are wise times. “Rose for Patou is a collection rooted in reality – a practical collection.”
Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung coined the concept of the “shadow self,” the dark side of every identity. “We do not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by becoming aware of darkness,” the philosopher wrote. Also known in modern parlance as the “advent of the villain,” this concept has become incredibly popular on TikTok and has featured in several collections.
At Charles de Vilmorin, the show, titled “Dreaming Bourgeois,” was structured as a play filled with visual elements worthy of fairy tales and commedia dell’arte (Italian comedy) – rat masks, flaming feathers, draperies and capes – each evoking a majestic villain worthy of a historical drama. Theatrical gowns (notably not ready-to-wear) transformed haute couture into escapism.
Courtesy of Robert Ng
The skull mask was an eerie conclusion to Robert Wang’s fashion musings on the life cycle.
Courtesy of Robert Ng
The ideas of flesh and decay were brought to the runway.
Meanwhile, at Robert Wang, each silhouette evolved into something else. For his 10th anniversary, the designer presented a collection that revolved around time, representing the cycle of life, transformation, and death, and dealing with the darker side of the human experience (including skull masks). Decaying flowers, flesh, bones, and skulls were all featured in the collection and textiles, celebrating the multifaceted and fleeting nature of life.
Some designers see couture as a space for experimentation. Iris van HerpenA person who has demonstrated exceptional talent in fields such as technology, science, or the arts.
The designer unveiled aerial sculptures featuring models embedded in garments and suspended from walls. The collection also included pieces that recreated the effects of waves lapping on sand and the ocean, dresses with pearl gradients (some sculpted with heat guns), and a process that merged organza with 3D printing and lace. These pieces were the result of discussions with French chemist Emmanuel Farge of the Marie Curie Institute. “I think about primitive organisms in the ocean 700 million years ago and how they changed our senses (and what we experience now),” the designer said in her presentation, elaborating on how nature influences her sensibility and creativity.
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At the Iris van Herpen show, models were mounted on the walls.
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The models are suspended like the fossilized relics that inspired the collection.
In a similar vein, Ardazaei explored how geometry and mathematics express the rhythms of nature as envisioned by Bahareh Ardakani, the brand’s founder and artistic director. She considered concepts of quantum physics and their potential visual impact, exploring the multi-dimensions of string theory laid flat to appear as petals. This was achieved through the use of silk and satin petals on the envelope skirt, fishtail gowns that are both geometric and natural, crystals arranged in floral compositions, and double embroidery for a “big bang effect where light explodes from the dress.”
Viktor&Rolf’s “Haute Abstraction” collection, as the show notes put it, “appeared to represent a certain kind of absurdity.” Reminiscent of their 1998 “Atomic Bomb” collection, it played with geometric shapes, squares and spheres that seemed both childlike and conceptual. “We thought of abstract shapes like boxes, cubes and balls, and combined them with the human body. When you’re in the mood for abstraction, you feel a sense of freedom… there’s no interpretation, just space,” the pair said backstage, adding that it was realized in “very couture-oriented materials” like silk duchess, lurex and jacquard.
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Viktor & Rolf’s latest show was a meditation on cubism, geometry and everything in between.
Designer Rahul Mishra’s collection, “Aura,” referenced mysticism and the cosmos in a different way, showcasing spiritual and experimental fashion. “It’s about… creating something that is insubstantial, something that we know exists but can’t see,” he said backstage. The statuesque, surrealist silhouettes were made with metal structures and glass elements, contrasted with embellishments and hand embroidery, all made in India, where the designer lives. The color black used throughout the pieces represented “a concentration of all color, mystery and infinity,” he explained.
With the approach of Olympic GamesDior jumped at the opportunity: “This défilé represents an extraordinary opportunity to combine couture and sportswear with classicism, rebellion and collective energy,” the show notes read. Set against a fresco of female athletes, the show paid homage to “sporty” with elements of peplum, draping, silk dresses, skirts with exposed draped pants and moiré jacquard for sporty effect and body movement.
For Balenciaga (where drag queen Alexis Stone famously appeared as Miranda Priestly from the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada), the show was an opportunity to blend founder Cristóbal Balenciaga’s DNA with “homage to subcultural codes,” including a coat made from fake fur hand-dyed with synthetic wool, a goth-inspired knit maxi dress embroidered with upcycled black beads, and a jacket worn tied around the waist reworked into trousers, all of which elevated the mundane.
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Jean Paul Gaultier’s sheath dress was made with 42,000 hook and eye fastenings.
And like every year, Jean Paul Gaultier invited a new designer to present his eponymous presentation. This time, Nicola Di Felice, head of Courrèges, known for his sporty, techno-inspired clothing, presented a minimalist collection that was reminiscent of sporty, contemporary couture. It included tulle sheath and trompe l’oeil dresses fastened with 42,000 hooks, each of which was worn by a model who hid her face, presumably seeking anonymity… a rarity in 2024.