Haute Couture: The Journey Continues
The Haute Couture AW15/16 season has come to a close. Continuing the journey of past years we arrive at a season that continues to embody the beauty of the craft.
Paris Haute Couture has unfolded over the years presenting everything from renovation and continuity, to dreamy inspirations and dramatic differences. The journey took us to the AW15/16 season.
In every aspect this season expressed the beauty of couture. At the same time, it also welcomed an entrant in Fendi and the first Haute Couture presentation in Paris from Galliano since he departed Dior. As by tradition the runway did see a few less customary means, such as the inclusion of male models in the Haute Couture runways.
Across the collections the AW15/16 season saw a focus on the woman in terms of structure, form, and beauty. A theatrical element was naturally was added by Jean Paul Gaultier and a beautiful princess came to life on the Elie Saab runway.
We reflect on the collections that embodied this season.
Creative director Bertrand Guyon presented his highly anticipated debut Haute Couture collection for Schiaparelli. Being the third designer for Schiaparelli in three years, all eyes were on this presentation, which injected a sense of lightness into large gowns with a 1940s chic aesthetic. The garments used for the pieces had an elegant, powerful yet curious feel.
Dior presented a collection titled The Garden of Earthly Delights that perfectly balanced innocence and experience, simplicity and luxury, beauty and decadence. Raf Simons found his inspiration for this season in the Old Masters of Flemish and French artworks and craft reinterpreting the historical form, technique and artistic gesture to an elegant AW15/16 collection.
Ralph & Russo left the audience breathless with a renewed interpretation of their romantic and deeply emotive style in the AW15/16 collection. The show notes presented the scenery of the show: “On the eve of her coronation, a young Tsarina sheds off her priceless tiara and flicks lose her hair. To the audible gasp of the court’s noblemen, she storms out to search haunting forests for her Rasputin. The splendour of her ceremonial robes is the finest coup d’oeil ever seen.” Inspired by this enchanting fairytale, Ralph & Russo presented a collection manifested in sensual femininity and sexy sophistication belonging to a resolutely assertive woman. Blending modernity and tradition, each piece was a testament to the house’s savoir fair and craftsmanship. Immense detail through crystal and pearl mosaics, ogival motifs, embroideries and metallic threadwork alongside a masterly cut of fabrics such as silk, light tulle and chiffons awed the audience as each piece paid a compliment to the female body. Capes evoked the magnificence of ritual, yet was presented in a delicately light spirit, exalting the glory of the woman as deity. In its entirety the collection once again proved Ralph & Russo’s ability to inject pompousness with contemporary viability, which has made their creations internationally praised.
In an entirely different theme, Giorgio Armani Privé presented an electrifying, and loud collection with a bold colour scheme and a punky edge injected through the models’ hairstyles and makeup. Prior to the presentation Giorgio Armani had vied to break couture barriers, and his AW15/16 collection certainly did. Shocking the public, the designer who has dominated the Italian fashion scene with his unique brand of elegance said this was his type of luxury. “I wanted to give the whole collection the air of a sketch, that indefinite trait that a pencil can create and is sometimes lost in the precision of clothes”, Armani commented on the ‘unfinished’ quality of his creations.
John Galliano presented his first Paris Haute Couture collection for Maison Margiela, since he departed Dior. The designer who has always used the runway to push boundaries made use of three male models in the AW15/16 presentation. As Haute Couture does not include menswear and is the most traditional category of fashion, a man in heels and a dress presents a certain provocation. Yet, the collection was the true spirit of Margiela in its fluidity of gender and the deconstruct reconstruct aesthetic.
In a contrasting manner, Elie Saab presented a collection of dresses suitable for princesses. Floral patterns, embellishments, and fitted waists, combined with luxurious sparkle and shimmer marked his creations for the AW15/16 season. While gold was the recurrent colour, the palette also included shades of pink, blue, taupe as well as a range of darker tones.
Jean Paul Gaultier brought to life the Breton stripe as worn by sailors and which has become a trademark of the house. The AW15/16 collection was inspired by the French region of Brittany. In true Gaultier style the presentation had an aspect of theatre oozing from the seams with a traditional Breton orchestra performing with bagpipes on the runway. The collection featured lashings of Breton stripes, sheer black velvet blouses and traditional lace Breton tube hats in exaggerated heights.
Fendi presented their first Haute Couture collection during this season in Paris. The presentation also celebrated Karl Lagerfeld’s 50 years at Fendi, which is the longest relationship between a designer and a fashion house to date. The collection showed the intricacies of fur in the unveiling of their first ever couture collection. One of their specialities is fur and they used a variety of techniques and designers to showcase this area of expertise. Fendi started out as a fur boutique in 1925 with its own in-house fur atelier in the centre of Rome.
This Haute Couture season has left us yearning for more.
Our coverage of Paris fashion will continue as we look ahead to the upcoming Ready to Wear season. Immerse yourself in the world of fashion through fluoro’s archives.
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