There reigns (strangely) an air of normality over this Parisian fashion week: the parades take place ” in truth “ in front of the guests, we again meet the Anglo-Saxon journalists Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes, and black sedans honk their horns desperately to disperse the crowds on the roadway in front of the entrance to the Gaultier or Dior shows. From January 24 to 27, sixteen houses presented their spring-summer 2023 haute couture collection.
As usual, Dior paraded through the gardens of the Rodin Museum. In the large box that welcomes the public, the walls are hung with gigantic embroidered tapestries reproducing works by the couple Madhvi and Manu Parekh. The duo’s work celebrates Indian craftsmanship, mixing abstract patterns, bright colors and surreal characters from ancestral beliefs. A form of introduction to the collection, which talks about the workshop, “this magical world where abstract ideas materialize”, explains designer Maria Grazia Chiuri. “I focused on the language of embroidery, which often has a superficial ornamental dimension. I wanted it to become the raw material, to envelop the body”.
This is the case of an impressive evening dress in embroidered fishnet and ivory tulle, trimmings and braids (braided cords or ribbons used to adorn) enhanced with sparkles and pearls, which required more than 1,200 hours of work. Its classic shape and its complex tangle of embroidery rather evoke the work of Mr. Dior, but the movement that animates it once worn attests to its lightness, its modernity. And the talent of the workshops.
Xavier Veilhan sublime Chanel
Once is not custom, at Chanel, the designer Virginie Viard joined the services of the artist and scenographer Xavier Veilhan to imagine a monumental decor within the ephemeral Grand Palais. “When I started chatting with Virginie, I was thinking of Alexandre Rodtchenko or Sonia Delaunay. It is an environment put at the service of a course, a bit like dog or equestrian courses, but there is also the idea of mini-golf or the Zen garden., details the artist.
Imagined in shades of black, beige and white, colors intrinsically linked to the house with the double C, this staging made of sand, round seats and suspended inflatable balloons gives the space the neutrality necessary to leave all its place. to the garment. “These geometric shapes made me want contrasts, a great lightness: aerial dresses, floating, as if suspended. Lots of ruffles, fringes, macramé, bright laces, iridescent tweeds, colorful jewel buttons », details Virginie Viard. The collection, stripped of the superfluous, is just right.
The American Daniel Roseberry, who has worked at Schiaparelli since 2019, has tackled a completely different kind of design. Acquired in 2007 by the Italian businessman Diego Della Valle, the Parisian house on the Vendôme – founded in 1927 by Elsa Schiaparelli – has long been sought. She seems to have finally found a fair mode of expression thanks to the Texan. Her spectacular creations, combining the codes of surrealism dear to the founder and couture technicality, seduce celebrities: Lady Gaga was thus all dressed in Schiaparelli during the inauguration of Joe Biden in January 2021.
For this spring-summer 2023 collection, no trace of pink “shocking” so recognizable from the house: “I wanted something very rigorous and structured, without blurring the message with garish colors or extravagant volumes. » Articulated around black, white and gold, the collection offers glamorous evening dresses, of course, and astonishing pieces like this short coat with a rounded collar entirely embroidered with crystals and golden sequins. Certain golden jewels escaping from the bustiers or the collars recall the works of Calder floating in space. “I often say that we live here on the planet Schiaparelli”, laughs Daniel Roseberry.
Valentino’s ode to the body
On the other side of Place Vendôme, Pierpaolo Piccioli presented to around fifty guests a Valentino collection faithful to the aesthetic codes of the house, with its draped dresses with a long train, its short embroidered coats or its masterful feather adornments. The novelty lies rather in the casting of models, which really represents the diversity of bodies, from Violetta Sanchez (muse of Yves Saint Laurent in the 1980s) to the Dutch Jill Kortleve, model size 40 – still a rarity on the catwalks.
“I wanted to explore the history of the body through the ages. I thought of the Venus de Milo, of The Birth of Venus of Botticelli, but also to the photos of Man Ray or to the feminine curves of Picasso. We usually work with our in-house mannequin and all stockmans (busts on which the canvases are made) are made to measure. It was a different exercise for the workshops to appropriate these new measurements », explains the Roman creator, who intends “celebrating the power of bodies”.
At Jean Paul Gaultier, the bodies are less glorified than sculpted, and each outfit is equipped with a corset. “Haute couture doesn’t need to reflect reality, it’s craftsmanship, a dream”, justifies the creator Glenn Martens. Since Jean Paul Gaultier retired from the house that bears his name in January 2020, the haute couture collections have been developed in collaboration with an external designer who changes every season. After Chitose Abe last July, it’s the Y/Project designer’s turn to offer his version of Gaultier couture. “I did not try to reinvent a silhouette, but to celebrate my vision of Jean Paul”, he announces.
The emblematic marinière is shredded or decomposed into iron threads on a nude dress, the fabric patchworks stretch out in endless trains. We find the Y/Project spirit in the constructions as skilful as they are disconcerting and the touch of flamboyant Gothic which infuses the dresses of medieval Madonnas. Unquestionably, the result has panache. But its brilliance is a little tarnished by the discomfort that the constraining outfits seem to provide.
The meaning of the party according to Azzaro
At Fendi too, some models don’t look very confident in their high-rise but heelless pumps that seem to be held in the air by the operation of the Holy Spirit. These incredible shoes are one of the striking elements of their costume as Roman empresses, all in fluid fabrics, shimmering drapes, tights where dark embroidery winds around the long legs. Designer Kim Jones was inspired by Fendi’s hometown, which he loves “the ability to travel in time”.
Classical statues outside the Palace of Italian Civilization – Fendi’s headquarters – are hand-painted on shaved mink and velvet tops, Corinthian reliefs are encrusted in leather embroidered with sequins, fur and beads. Each silhouette conveys an impression of opulence, further enhanced by the dramatic staging – with neon, smoke and techno – by Jon Hopkins, loaded with bass.
At Azzaro, Olivier Theyskens, appointed artistic director in February 2020, has decided to fully embrace the codes of the house, renowned for sublimating the Parisian nights of the 1970s. Sequins, sequins, crystals thus invite themselves on suits, evening dresses with maddening necklines or light knit sets. “I like to introduce pieces that are almost an ode to pure Azzaro, very embroidered, with lots of ornaments. Our historic workshop has been present in Paris for more than fifty years, with a very couture approach,” specifies the designer.
Lebanese designer Rabih Kayrouz continues to experiment with his wardrobe of essentials – the right peacoat, the perfect little cropped jacket, the suit jacket with an impeccable fit – to which he adds exceptional pieces. A strapless dress with an accentuated waist is encrusted with sparkling crystals, while another is fashioned from a succession of spirally woven taffeta ribbons. “The shapes of my line of essentials are transformed here into an exceptional version. I juggle between these two words. »