#alta moda

Valentino at Paris Fashion Week Spring 2004 - Details

Balmain Spring Summer 2021

Iris van Herpen Fall Winter 2018 Haute Couture 

Yiqing Yin Haute Couture 2013

Yiqing Yin Haute Couture 2013

Dolce and Gabbana Haute Couture Fall 2015

Xu Ming - China Fashion Week

Amsterdam Fashion Week - Spring Summer 2013

Anrealage Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear

Paris Fashion Week Couture - Spring 2015

I finished watching and reviewing the couture collections earlier than I expected - I feel like Superman now! - and so I’m pretty ready to fill you in with all my comments. In general I was pleased with what I saw, even if it seems more and more obvious in my opinion that Couture is becoming more and more similar to prêt-à-porter: everything becomes simpler, everything becomes more wearable.

Day 1

As usual Versace opens the couture runways in Paris, and this time I really hoped some of the subtlety Donatella put in both mens and womenswear collections was infused in this collection as well - what’s better than a subtle elegant couture gown? At the beginning I really thought this was the case - beautiful the total white or total black looks, even trousers on the runway, with sinuous cuts showing that much of skin just to be considered sexy without being vulgar. When the first electric blue piece went out I thought ‘ok, that is nice’. But then it started going worse and w(h)orse: giant oversize belts, more and more skin showing, and more and more predictable gowns. Missed opportunity.

Day 2

Schiaparelli opened the day with the collection designed by the in-house team after the departure of Marco Zanini. I want to spend some words on this line even if I didn’t quite like it, because I’m really worried for the future of this just-reborn brand. I don’t see where it’s going, and unless the next creative director really pushes the boundaries, this one is going to be the proof that sometimes is better to leave the maison dormant than to restore it. This collection was nice, but Schiaparelli can’t be nice. It has to be SHOCKING. And overall, it lacked cohesion.

Thank god Rad Hourani (photo 1) saved me. Even if it was a very short collection, more a presentation than a runway show actually, it was great in every sense, from putting menswear in a couture show to the clothes in themselves, merging the polished quality of kimono clothing to details from male suits, like the lapels. Everything is extremely futuristic - just look at the materials. And the very bright pop of colour wasn’t missing either.

Colour which was present in Dior(photo 2) as well. It’s amazing to see how Raf Simons can go from an inspiration to a radically different one in the space of a season: how could the 'period’ gowns we saw last season come from the same maison as this colourful contemporary extravaganza? There were some unusual shots for Dior: varnish thigh-length boots, transparent plastic coats, Picasso-like prints. Still, there was Dior at its full: ballerina dresses, strapless gowns with full skirts, luxurious materials, some bling which never risks of being over the top. It was a feast for the eye and for the soul, as well as for the mass of Dior addicts dreaming after seeing such an amazing show.

I was disappointed by Giambattista Valli (photo 3) as he’s one of the designers I like the most. But this time there was nothing original about his collection. Don’t get me wrong: I really think this looks were beautiful, but I saw this collection more as a tribute than as an original work. It’s Chanel, maybe even Dior - but very little Giambattista Valli.

Day 3

It was smart of Kaiser Karl to open Chanelcouture show (photo 4) with an explosion of solid colours; and it was as smart as this to pair these colours with simple straight-lined silhouettes. Of course there were the cream and powder tones dear to the maison, but everything seemed more precise and detailed, brighter in some way; even the total black looks had strong, bold lines; the flowers in the last looks - except being too heavy in some instances - looked like glowing of a new light. New things came from little details: like the exaggerated shoulders or the slightly more feminine edgy atmosphere of the whole show.

Julien Fournié chose feminine elongated silhouettes. His clothes went from the simplest to the extreme of decoration, with coral-like necklaces and accessories and multicoloured prints.

There was Russia in Ulyana Sergeenko’s collection (photo 5) as usual. It was very visible in her looks, as usual. Heavier in some of them, subtler in others. Still, what I really liked from her this time was the caricatural quality of her work: everything was exaggerated until it became ironic. The prints were extremely graphic and bold, the model was forced in rigid postures by the dresses, the very high waist of many looks made the model’s legs look extremely long - maybe too long. But after all, it was obvious that was the goal. Haute couture that can’t take itself too seriously anymore. Ulyana is growing up.

The bamboo forest on Armani Privé catwalk (photo 6) was enough to understand we were in Asia for this collection. But then, the oriental inspiration came very strongly from the clothes themselves: there was chiffon, glossy silk, some bamboo printed ethereal fabric, kimono belts, and an essentiality of cut which one can only find in Japanese tradition. The colours were lighted of a very toned down glow and the bling was to the minimum, extremely chic.

Day 4

A 'Lady Gagaish’ extravaganza with Frank Sorbier opened the fourth day, with encrusted lace, voluminous gowns made of what looks like chiffon foulards and sculptural outfits. More relaxed was the atmosphere with Elie Saab (photo 7). Every season I say 'next one I WON’T put his looks in my post’, because you know, it’s true, he always does the same things. Yet, you can’t help looking at his gowns with open mouth and a sparkle in your eyes. They are really beautiful gowns, no other word can be used to describe it appropriately. And I must admit, there was something different this year: no strapless draped glamorous gowns, but more traditional silhouettes and shapes, like princesses from a not-so-far-away past sliding down the catwalk. The glamour was there but it was in some way less glam and more sophisticated.

Jean Paul Gaultier presented his first collection after the closing of the prêt-à-porter line. I was disappointed. It felt like watching a Moschino show from the 80s. Viktor & Rolf (photo 8) never disappoint instead. They go very wearable and understated when they do ready-to-wear, but with couture they choose art all the way. Yet, it’s not art for art’s sake; it’s art AND fashion, because apart from all the irony they put in their clothes, the exaggeration, the fantasy in their looks, there are always those outfits that stay on the verge between couture and ready-to-wear. This collection was fantastic in taking a fairy-tale little gown - I can clearly see Snow White wearing every single piee - with puffy skirts and flowery maxi-prints, and making it sort of resort, paired with flip-flops and essential straw hats.

If you want a perfect end of the day, just ask Valentino (photo 9). I was skeptical about this collection at the beginning: it looked like something already seen, it looked like D&G, bla bla bla. After the fifth or sixth look I was in love - again - with what Valentino designers had to offer. It was all about love: as simple as that. There were lines from literary works stitched to the skirts of the more opulent gowns, but love was especially visible in the romantic aura surrounding every piece of the collection. Russia gave the inspiration for the decorations and with the prints, colourful and traditionally decadent at the same time. Nothing was too much, everything was flawless.

Day 5

It’s good to see there’s someone apart from the big brands doing very good couture fashion. This was the case with Serkan Cura (photo 10). It was definitely over the top. Yet, every piece started from one simple piece: the bustier. And so, here they went with countless versions of it, with fur, chiffon, lace. There was even a male model wearing one of the pieces. And it was sexy.

I finish my review by mentioning Ralph & Russo which presented a very pleasant collection even if it lacked cohesion overall: it looked like there were two parallel collections going on. Nevertheless, there were some happy results, like the layered skirts - kinda reminded me of Capucci’s 'Nine skirt gown’ -, the algid floor-length capes and the total chiffon looks.

xxx

Maison Margiela S/S Couture 2015

And here he is. Galliano is among us. Again.

Apart from the great event that this return represented for the world of fashion, before taking a look at the collection i was wondering why everyone was saying that this collection was more Galliano than Margiela. I mean, since I knew Galliano was going to become the new creative director of the maison it was obvious for me that this was a match made in heaven: Mr Galliano’s eccentric style is basically perfect for the distort fairytale world of Margiela. But now that I saw the whole collection, I understand what people were saying.

No, it was not all about finding the little flaw just to criticise someone’s work - especially because basically everyone was waiting with excitement for Galliano’s return. This collection didn’t have the usual abstract quality that characterises Margiela’s work - oh, btw, it changed name to Maison Margiela only, thanks Vanessa Friedman for making me notice with your article - and everything, from inspiration to shapes to drama was a little bit toned down. Yes, I would say it was more Galliano, in the sense that it was more feminine and couture-like than a usual Maison Martin Margiela collection. Yet, it doesn’t mean what Galliano did has to be criticised.

Every brand has to face the arrival of new designers, and it’s impossible for the new arrived creative director not to put a little bit of himself in the creative process of the brand he takes over. So, how could you possibly expect such a strong and loud personality as Galliano totally conforming to someone else’s aesthetic? Instead, not only is it inevitable for a designer to transfer his own aesthetic to the brand he’s designing for, but it’s also an enriching moment for the brand in itself. Brands are like human beings, they evolve and change. It would be a pity if it wasn’t this way.

And talking about change, Galliano’s personality, as seen from his new creations, has transformed into something still recognisable but definitely different from what we were used to see. Sure, it’s partly because he’s not designing for his own line, but must, in some way, absorb some of the brand’s creative view; but after all, if you know Mr Galliano’s past work, you can see there’s a new softness to his work, a new subtler elegance, far from the revolutionary inspiration of his graduate collection at Central Saint Martin’s in the 80s, which made him so famous. And yet, even if understated, his looks were unbelievably strong.

Regal lace on black velvet gowns with plastic see-through pockets, A-line dresses and coats where fabric and leather applications design Picasso-like faces - is that an Arcimboldo composition that I’m seeing on the blood red trench-coat? - black glossy shells decorating a gothic bustier, a little black ribbon around a model’s neck, and then perfectly polished, strapless, straight black dresses, and long-sleeved plainly blood orange - it’s fucking red! - buttonless coats, and velvet, and leather. It seemed to be in front of the whole evolution happening in Galliano’s mind during these years away from the world of fashion. And the grand finale, the red avant-garde dress decorated by an explosion of EVERYTHING being part of Galliano’s history as well as Margiela’s: fake jewels, little mirrors, faux flowers, even a little face of something that looks like a Barbie. But doesn’t it look like, after all, as an explosion of those useless little things, feelings, emotions that we all have in our lives and that we store in what we call memory? Yes. Margiela’s artisanal collection this time was about memories. And it was about a designer, like Galliano, that no one talking about fashion can ever forget.

And he won’t be forgotten. He’s back and he’s ready to take over wearing a little strange crown with a pearl smile on his face, while looking forward to the future that is unfolding in front of him.

xxx

Ancient Roman Armour inspired Runway [3/5]

facinaoris:

Dior Couture Spring 2020

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2016 Couture

Versace ss 2021 ‘Versacepolis’ embellished tops

Shades of red: Valentino patent-leather coat, YSL leather corset belt and shoes (unknown) 

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda S/S 2015

Dior Haute Couture SS 2021

Ph: Elina Kechicheva