What requires discipline, endurance and thousands of hours of work? Haute couture has more in common with upper-echelon sport than you might think. Just before the world’s leading athletes gathered in Paris, the city hosted its other summer games. As for the winners, Prestige reports from the front row.
As the Petit Palais is still under construction, Schiaparelli was forced out of their usual digs at Couture Week, this time showing in the dark basement of the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild. The change in venue also coincidentally marked a departure from Daniel Roseberry’s viral-seeking lion heads and electrode alien babies. Instead, autumn 2024 felt closer to Elsa Schiaparelli’s work, drawing inspiration from the 1950s, a time when the maison was flourishing under the avant-garde designer. Titled The Phoenix, the collection paid tribute to the founder’s ability to shape-shift and reinvent herself, opening with a wide cape featuring wings and feathers. A duchess satin blush-pink dress featuring two contrasting shoes as breastplates referenced her surreal shoe hat, a previous collaboration with close friend Salvador Dalí. A lace-up bustier dress with a hem of circular organza petals flexed the skills of the atelier, while a fur jacket made from triple organza spikes was especially stunning. A truly brilliant collection with no shortage of museum-worthy clothes – Elsa herself would have approved.
Given the sheer spectacle of Thom Browne’s ready-to-wear shows, you can bet that at his second-ever couture outing, the designer would be up to his usual tricks. Held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Browne’s show made the week’s most overt reference to the city’s impending Olympic summer games by opening with a tug of war refereed by a model wearing a gold laurel wreath. And though the theatrics felt familiar, there wasn’t a hint of the signature Thom Browne grayscale in sight. The 48 looks in the collection were all made of mostly off-white muslin, the lightweight cotton that forms toiles – the starting point of any couture collection. But this time the muslin became the final work: embroidered, sculpted and layered with exceptional craft. To bring home the message, all attendees received a white muslin atelier coat with their invitation. Standouts were a muslin jacket dress, one side of which was embroidered with red bugle beads depicting the muscular system. A front rouleau button jacket and pencil skirt embroidered with gold beads, sequins and crystals took 42 artisans more than 11,000 hours of work. The show closed with models on a gold, silver and bronze podium, but with Browne’s athletic dedication to craftsmanship, the collection surely gets gold.
Since his time at Vetements and now Balenciaga, Demna has been most associated with the vernacular of street style. The designer’s fourth outing at Balenciaga couture, however, proved to be the most overt fusion of his personal aesthetic with the highest echelons of fashion. Challenging notions of what constitutes haute couture, Demna reimaged Cristóbal Balenciaga’s house codes – three-quarter-length sleeves, eccentric hats and cocoon silhouettes – in streetwear, goth, skater and metalhead subcultures, using astonishing savoir-faire techniques that elevate familiar garments to couture status. Ordinary T-shirts were lined with black scuba satin, giving them stiffness and form; what resembled a vintage printed Metallica tee was in fact the result of 70 hours of hand painting; and Taiwanese artist Ni Hao was enlisted to fashion hats from T-shirts frozen-in-resin. Upcycling fed into the collection too: a gown made from a preloved distressed jersey was meticulously embellished with beads, and an evening dress was fashioned from melded plastic bags, some of which still bore their original barcodes. A finale ephemeral wedding gown made of 47 metres of black nylon – a substitute for Cristóbal’s favoured gazar – was stapled and sculptured on to the model 30 minutes before the show, taking just 30 seconds to dismantle – a comment on where we put value in clothing. Given the Chambre Syndicale’s tightly controlled definition of what constitutes haute couture, it’s no surprise that it was one of the most discussed and divisive shows of the season. All for healthy debate? The internet mightn’t agree.
Just six months after John Galliano referenced the French-German photographer Brassaï in his now-legendary Margiela Artisanal show, this season he was also referenced by couturier Stephane Rolland. For autumn 2024, however, Rolland overlooked the photographer’s grisly subjects, instead drawing inspiration from his black-and-white images of Paris at night: the mysterious and hidden parts of the city illuminated by streetlamps, and the stillness of the Seine at dusk. Titled To You, Paris, the collection unfolded at the vast Salle Pleyel, the 2,000-seat concert hall in the 8e arrondissement, set to the strains of husky French poet Jacques Prévert’s song “Cet Amour”. Models emerged from a glowing light, while a multitude of smoke machines captured the after-hours mood. Monochromatic looks of wool and satin crepe black suiting, and satin gowns formed the backbone of the collection, while gazar was used to fashion monumental silhouettes – whether sharp or voluminous, they moved with elegance and ease. A jersey and gazar bubble jacket, and a nude tulle gown with a gazar chest sculpture felt especially cinematic. Sequins, feathers, diamond broaches and belts added shimmer where necessary – it’s the City of Light after all. Supermodel Coco Rocha closed the show in a giant hooded bridal gown embroidered with dozens of organza petals, leaving the audience to shed a tear, or two.
Tamara Ralph’s autumn 2024 couture collection marked just one year after the designer first showed under her own name, though the past 12 months have already seen Ralph make quite the splash, as evidenced by the number of high-profile celebrities she counts as clients: the starry front row at her show on the first day of Haute Couture Week included Avril Lavigne and Heart Evangelista. Presented in the historic Collège des Bernardins, the collection Lost in Love is a romantic exploration of the fashion capital, “a love story not only with Paris but developed in Paris”. Opening looks in black-and-white houndstooth check exuded a Left Bank elegance, while flowing gowns in ruby red and blush pinks captured the fantasy of the City of Light. The finale bridal gown in double satin, featuring crystal embroidery and a train peppered with life-size 3D rose appliqué, was particularly mesmerising. Although femininity has always been a hallmark of every Tamara Ralph collection, this season we saw again the harder elements that have come to define her new vision, from a chainmail-style gown to metallic orchid embellishments on dresses that symbolise love, devotion and family. Perhaps a personal nod to the designer’s home life – just one month before the show, she welcomed a second child with her new partner. An homage to the city of love from a woman in love – you can’t help but smile.
Retirement evidently isn’t a concept that features in Giorgio Armani’s lexicon. At 90, not only is the designer still showing 10 collections a year – outpacing many of his younger peers – but he hasn’t lost the ability to conjure utter magic on the runway. And there’s perhaps no better demonstration than his autumn 2024 haute couture collection, named Perle, the show notes for which referenced the various meanings of the gemstone in diverse cultures, namely the moon, water, wisdom and love. In the 89 looks, pearls came to life through gold and silver fabrics that shimmered with a pearlescent sheen, and sumptuous velvet embroidered with beads and crystals. Strands of pearls formed beaded capes; pearls were studded on jackets, gowns and even clutch bags; models wore a single giant pearl earring. The finale jacket and trousers made from Swarovski crystals were especially dazzling. Set to the soundtrack of Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade”, the collection had an old-world charm but never veered into the passé; even by Armani’s exacting standards, this was a serious display of elegance. Amid the extravaganza and overt theatricality of some shows at couture week, a man in his ninth decade cutting through the noise with serenity, calmness and restraint? Long may it continue.
In today’s fickle climate, a brand celebrating 10 years in business is surely a profound milestone. And given the numerous recent celebrity red-carpet appearances in Robert Wun, the designer has reason to celebrate – he’s also announced a third 10th-year show in Hong Kong next month. Reflecting on this milestone, the designer’s retrospective collection, named Time,contemplates the transient nature of beauty: “One day, everything ends, and that’s OK.” Looks representing the passing of the seasons explored notions of human decay. The show opened with a veiled black gown with white beading that mimicked fallen snow; next, overcoats embellished with butterflies signalled the coming of spring; a yellow plissé jacket and trousers with burn marks evoked scorching summer heat. Especially haunting were the closing looks of a deep-red beaded dress depicting the muscular system, and the bridal cosmic-style veiled gown. With drama and craftsmanship in bucketloads, the collection will surely appeal to Wun’s more eccentric clientele.
Everyone was half expecting Virginie Viard to take a bow at the end of the Chanel couture show, but despite her departure three weeks previously, the press notes stated she wasn’t involved with the collection; it was created by the studio team instead. Held at the Palais Garnier Opera House – the maison’s usual Grand Palais venue is still under construction – the truly sumptuous collection features all the house signatures: colourful tweed skirt suits, great bows and pearl buttons, while ballerina-esque tutus and a sweeping black opera coat took cues from the surroundings. This season’s Chanel bride was 18-year-old supermodel-in-waiting Angelina Kendall, who closed the show in a voluminous taffeta gown with puffy sleeves, which would have made Princess Diana blush. As rumours continue to swirl about who will be anointed Viard’s successor, one thing remains certain: the Chanel brand codes are alive and well.
The rotating cast of guest designers at John Paul Gaultier Couture has been a continuous source of entertainment for fashion watchers since the project began in 2021, with each given the kays to the brand’s atelier for one collection. After Simone Rocha’s ethereal show in January, Courrèges creative director Nicolas Di Felice took up the mantle this season. And what does that look like? Corsets! Plenty of them, whether incorporated into sultry draped gowns featuring eye-level necklines or sleek body-con dresses. The undergarment’s hook-and-eye closure is also a recurring motif, embroidered over trousers, bustier tops and gowns, including the scintillating sheer nude finale. The show rightly closed to a rapturous standing ovation, but the bad news? One season is all we’re getting.
Assistant Editor
A print and multimedia journalist, Madelaine covers fashion, beauty, art & culture, travel and F&B. Before moving into journalism, Madelaine worked for luxury brands such as Estée Lauder Companies, Tom ..Read More
Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates.
Thank you for your subscription.
