Haute Couture Week is officially underway in Paris, and already its return to an in-person format has proven triumphant. On day one, Daniel Roseberry opened the week of tremendous french savoire-faire with Schiaparelli’s comeback to the runway titled An Age of Discipline. Meanwhile, in quintessential Dior fashion, the luxury label bonds french tradition with a modern take through a celebration of Indian art and embroidery through the work of two Indian artists, Madhvi and Manu Parekh.
Although it’s been a while since we’ve touched down in the city of lights for couture. Still, this season is expected to grace a lot for us to witness as other luxury labels, including Chanel, Alexandre Vauthier, Elie Saab, Fendi, Valentino, and many more, are slated to hold physical shows throughout the week.
Below, GRAZIA rounds up all the must-see’s from the Couture Spring-Summer 2022 shows. Make sure to come back for the latest as we update throughout the week.
Fendi
For his third collection for the Italian luxury label, creative director Kim Jones still pays tribute to the city of Rome. The city’s ancient buildings served as an inspiration for Jones, and much like the Italian capital, the collection is well-constructed and made to last. Sci-fi and futuristic framework elements are applied to elegant silhouettes; elsewhere, ceremonial asceticism layered with astral fantasy. Fluid fabrics are draped atop shimmering bodies; baguette beads luminous with light; hand-embroidered tights appearing as a second skin. “When you walk down the street in Rome, you are constantly moving back and forth in time,” explains Kim Jones. “Where we work feels very modern, but you pass monuments on the way there. There’s a total timelessness to the city: a historic vein which runs through it, but also a movement that is projecting forwards.”
Jean Paul Gaultier
After Jean Paul Gaultier decided to step back from his eponymous label with his last collection being Haute Couture Spring 2020, the designer has opted to lend his brand for other designers to interpet moving forward. Glenn Martens is the latest designer to step up to the plate, this time reinterpreting the Jean Paul Gaultier couture universe in a single collection. The Y/Project artistic director gets his paws on the Gaultier heritage, lending his keen eye to garments packed with historical references and dramatic allure. “We seldom get the chance to put together such elaborate silhouettes. For me, couture means pure beauty and elegance. Looks that have no business being on the street.” says Martens in post-show notes.
Valentino
For creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, it was important to represent not one single woman to represent the luxury Maisons couture collection, but women of all different ages, sizes, and races. The diverse cast of models who walked the runway brought Piccioli’s vision to life. “Soft and welcoming in the democratic spirit, and at the same time radical in the approach that rewrites known processes, Piccioli builds the collection as a composite harmony of physical types and the clothes that dress them, studied through a long process, both scientific and poetic. The message does not change in its purpose, which is to convey beauty, but in the welcoming expression.”
Viktor & Rolf
Peruse of Viktor & Rolf, the Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion house brings camp to couture. In a reference to old Hollywood vampires, the design duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren bring a new meaning to the exaggerated shoulder.
Giambattista Valli
Given the state of coronavirus cases in Paris and the lack of buyers traveling, Giambattista Valli decided to take a new approach to his Haute Couture 2022 show. Instead of staging shows for his haute couture and ready-to-wear collections separately, Valli opted to combine the two together in a cinematic show titled the ‘Valli Experience.’ Both haute couture spring 2022 and Fall-winter 2022 collections donned the runway one after enough all in one go.
Chanel
Lagerfeld muses Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, and Kaia Gerber may have been missing from the runway this season, but Grace Kelly’s granddaughter, Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco, made up for it with quite an entrance as she rode a horse on the Chanel Haute Couture runway. The equestrian turned Chanel model and ambassador opened the show, trotting down the runway on her noble steed in a black tweed ensemble and helmet (safety first!)
Dior
When it comes to couture craftmanship, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior collection always speaks volumes. Her latest collection celebrates embroidery and human relations through handmade objects. Dior’s heritage embroidery code gets reimagined through a collaboration with Indian artists Madhvi and Manu Parekh from the Chanakya Atelier and the Chanakya School of Craft.
“An inspiring creative dialogue, collective, exalting virtuoso skills, where embroidery is transformed into a collaborative mode of expression, at the crossroads of art and craft,” said the show notes.
Schiaparelli
2021 was indeed the banner year for Schiaparelli in terms of red carpet moment with A-listers from Cardi B to Bella Hadid (yes, we’re still not over the Cannes Film Festival gown) donning the labels otherworldly surrealistic looks. This haute couture season, creative director Daniel Roseberry brings the label back to the coveted Parisian runways for the first show for the Maison since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Suddenly, color felt wrong to me. So, did volume,” says Roseberry in post-show notes. “All of the tricks that couture designers (including me) use to communicate grandeur and craftsmanship—big silhouettes, glorious poufs of fabric, huge volume—felt hollow. Instead, I wanted to see if we could achieve the same kind of drama and otherworldliness without relying on those tropes. All we needed, I realized, was black, white, and gold—yet it wasn’t so much a return to basics as it was a move towards the elemental.”
