The haute couture fall/winter 2016 season ushered in new notions of purity, femininity and celebrated the craft that goes into bringing these creations to life.
The haute couture fall/winter 2016 season ushered in new notions of purity, femininity and celebrated the craft that goes into bringing these creations to life.
DIOR HAUTE COUTURE.
Inspired by the Bar Suit—the heart and soul of Christian Dior—designers Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux led their team on a journey through the house’s codes this season. Timeless black and white (two of Dior’s favourite colours), punctuated here and there with gold embroidery, was the perfect canvas on which to express Monsieur Dior’s fascination with contrasts: Masculine and feminine, hard and soft, the old and the new. Made lighter and more relaxed, the Bar jacket of today is a revelation, nonchalantly worn with long skirts and flat sandals.
ATELIER VERSACE.
The Versace woman’s display of strength has always taken a high-octane, sensual slant. This season, Donatella Versace chose to soften her femme fatale’s dangerous edge by employing draping to honour the female form. The designer set the tone with the opening look of a luxurious belted robe, then followed up with a succession of satiny concoctions that proudly showed off every line and curve of the body.
CHANEL HAUTE COUTURE.
Any Chanel show is as much about the set as the clothes: Karl Lagerfeld’s epic seasonal productions are a window into the designer’s vision of the world. Couture fall/winter 2016 found the designer pondering craft, specifically the work of Chanel’s skilled (and largely invisible) technicians. Accordingly, cutting tables, sewing machines and other studio fixtures served as decor at the Grand Palais, while sharp-shouldered tailoring and featherladen, empire-line evening dresses created on the very same equipment paraded by. When it was time for the finale, the house’s premières and petites mains stepped out from behind the scenes and, movingly, took their bows alongside the Kaiser.
VIKTOR&ROLF.
Fashion brands have a habit of talking up “heritage,” but few would think to literally dig through their past for inspiration as Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren did for their collection . The Dutch duo mined their studio and archive for detritus from collections dating back to their debut in 1993, which they then collaged with the sole intention of repurposing every last scrap. The resultant riot of weaving, frills and appliqué was a witty commentary that highlighted fashion’s built-in obsolescence.
GIVENCHY HAUTE COUTURE BY RICCARDO TISCI.
Givenchy’s latest couture collection was shown as part of its men’s spring/summer 2017 presentation; the latter described by Creative Director Riccardo Tisci as coming from a more “spiritual” and “happy” place. The mood was palpable within the couture offerings as well, with Tisci constructing a variety of dresses around delicate pleats. Mirror fragments ran down the length of one white gown, and bedecked sharp suits unzipped at the waist for a high-shine utilitarian effect.
ARMANI PRIVE.
Giorgio Armani’s haute couture collections are rooted in the ethos of grace and elegance. How apt it is, then, that the Italian designer chose to name his latest showing, “Essence”. In doing so, Armani displayed his flair for creating clothes that not only embody his aesthetics, but also distil the spirit of couture A mainstay of Armani’s collections, velvet took on many guises, either as louche harem pants or a tiered ball gown; as did his penchant for geometric prints, which turned up on a host of masculine jackets. Elsewhere, column gowns with pretty bows at the waist transported the wearer to a world of sophistication.
