New Week – Style

Shows of the July Haute Couture Week have come to an end. Our report contains an overview of the fashion shows of Dior, Chanel, Fendi, Balenciaga, Viktor & Rolf and Schiaparelli.

all in white

According to the rules of high fashion, any show ends with the image of the bride. This season, the tradition has received a new incarnation, and white has become one of the main and most noticeable shades on the catwalk. Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior opened the show, inspired by the goddesses of Rome and ancient Greece, with a series of floor-length evening gowns in shades of white. The same move was used by her former colleague Pierpaolo Piccioli in the collection for Valentino. Charles de Villemorin presented a poetic collection based on draped white cotton and organza silhouettes for a new beginning for his Fashion Week debut (the designer recently parted ways with Rochas and returned to his own label). Daniel Roseberry dedicated the collection for Schiaparelli to his favorite artists and included some crisp white sculpted coats inspired by the Venus de Milo. Kim Jones added to the Fendi collection dedicated to precious gems, several milk-colored cocktail dresses with a graphic pattern, embroidered with beads, and a snow-white floor-length dress in leather trimmed with feathers.

Man and woman

Traditionally, couture shows are always based on female silhouettes. But since the rules are made to be broken, in the new season, designers showed images for men. For example, the Indian couturier Rahul Mishra, in a collection inspired by the drawings of the Russian-French illustrator Erte, showed floor-length coats, trousers and hand-embroidered capes for men. Alexandre Vauthier (house of Alexandre Vauthier) completed the collection with men’s tuxedos, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino – shiny coats made of gold threads and floral print suits. Lara Sonny, guest designer for Alber Elbaz’s AZ Factory project, showed how bright looks with colorful prints can look equally good on both boys and girls. And Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga presented as many men’s looks as women’s: from evening tuxedos to blazers and coats for every day.

Parisian style

Virginie Viard dedicated her collection to the Parisian style for Chanel this season and invited Caroline De Maigret, a top model and bestselling author of How to Feel Like a Parisian, Whoever You Are, to open the show. At Charles de Vilmorin, his muse and main Parisian of her generation and legend Ines de la Fressange walked the catwalk. Jean Paul Gaultier guest designer Julien Dossena of Rabanne (the brand is now Rabanne instead of the usual Paco Rabanne) presented his version of the Parisian Jean Paul Gaultier in a fluffy fur vest, a hat with earflaps or with a laurel wreath on her head, like classical statues scattered around Paris, and in uniforms with gold threads, like the “immortal” academicians from the main institution of the French language Academie Fransaise.

Homage to couture techniques

Viktor & Rolf are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year; the designers treated the serious date with humor and presented a show based on the “smallest wardrobe item” — a swimsuit, played with couture techniques from past collections: huge letters NO, DREAM or I WISH YOU WELL, a double effect, exaggerated high shoulders and huge bows. Most of all, the audience liked the swimsuits, decorated with mannequins in black suits. Backstage, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snernen said they were open to interpretation. Iris van Herpen dedicated her collection to the wonders of the ocean and the sea and introduced several innovative new techniques created using 3D printing, modeling and laser. Daniel Rosebery for Schiaparelli created cardigans and skirts, as if assembled from hundreds of small mirrors imitating the mosaics of the sculptor Jack Witten.

Demna Gvasalia continues to play with the trompe l’oeil technique and showcased coats that look like dyed fabric fur coats, sculpted wind-effect scarves and Prince of Wales plaid blazers crafted from Japanese denim. Pierpaolo Piccioli demonstrated in his Valentino collection seemingly ordinary indigo jeans, but in fact created from a thousand blue beads, in which Kaia Gerber opened the show. Tailoring master Tom Brown, who is celebrating 20 years of his signature brand this year, marked the anniversary with the first couture collection, where his signature gray striped suits were recreated from organza and a million small beads.

Lidia Ageeva