Hunter Schafer gasps as he watches a model pass by, clad in a balaclava and a dress made with pearly petals and micro-sequin inlays. On one side, Jennifer Lopez smiles approvingly, and on the other, Zendaya avoids blinking so as not to miss a detail of this hand-embroidered work of art. Beyond the excellence in raw materials and artisanal techniques, haute couture fashion can be explained through this scene, starred by the three celebrities on Monday, at the Schiaparelli show. A point of mystery, which leaves you speechless and takes your breath away. A tailoring dream come true but so exclusive that only a few mortals – very famous and only on loan – can get to touch or wear. To see it from afar, however, is possible twice a year, during the renowned haute couture week in Paris.
Haute Couture Fashion Week in the French capital experienced an electrifying edition this week, with expected comebacks, surprising debuts and the presence of international stars such as singers Rita Ora and Rihanna, actress Natalie Portman or model and composer Carla Bruni.
The catwalk opened with the artisanal magic of this Schiaparelli house. A dialogue, in the words of its creative director, Daniel Roseberry, “between the past and the future”, in which noble materials embroider pieces of exaggerated volumes to blur the female figure. Transformed into a goddess of surreal morphology, she highlighted a model carrying a glittering robot child, inspired by AI but built from artifacts that referred to technology before the iPhone. In short, fashion to reflect on where we come from and where we are going.
Schiaparelli was followed by the delicacy of Dior and the sincere desire of Maria Grazia Chiuri to give value to the ancestral confection of fabrics such as moiré, cotton twill or liquid gold silk. Hours later, the Córdoba Juana Martín put the Spanish accent on the French catwalk and consolidated it with an exultant tribute to the light and landscapes of Andalusia.
After the romanticism of Giambattista Valli, the actress Margaret Qualley closed a Chanel show on Tuesday focused on the lightness of tulle and Giorgio Armani Privé put the icing on the day with a proposal in which he explores the sensuality of transparencies and gives way to color fluorine in haute couture, which has always been bathed in pale and soft palettes.
The big claim on Wednesday was played by Ireland’s Simone Rocha and her reinterpretation of the Jean Paul Gaultier firm and its history, although Elie Saab also caught the eye, magical as always with his jeweled dresses and floral embroideries , and Valentino, which for the next spring season is bringing back the fairy tale dresses with full skirts, feathers and majestic capes.
In total, 29 firms that little by little have spun an intense journey through the art of haute couture during the newly launched 2024. A journey that came to an end yesterday with the long-awaited return of Maison Margiela. The French firm closed the days brilliantly with the lazy scaffolding of the models, like zombies wandering through a world inspired by Victorian London. John Galiano thus defended his title, and that of the firm, as a non-conformist rebel.
