Haute Couture 2015…Fashion’s Finest Moments

Giorgio Armani (far right of photo) shares his finale excitement with the 68 looks from Armani Prive’s  10th Anniversary collection 

Atop my bucket list of things I so much would like to experience in my professional life, has always been to attend Haute Couture Shows in Paris.  However, it was after viewing the most enjoyable Cinema Arts Festival Houston’s closing night film, Dior & I, which took you behind the scenes of Designer/Creative Director Raf Simons and his team as they created his first couture collection for Dior that I was even more in awe of what these masters of design and creativity accomplish. Seeing how creative minds work and the skilled craftsmen that pull together to make Couture Week happen was such a treat, a true art!  As I ready myself for NY Fashion Week which begins next week, being engrossed in following Haute Couture through the eyes of Women’s Wear Daily, Style.com, Fashionista and the other publications that were fortunate enough to experience this live has been the center of my attention that i wanted to share….it’s a trip into fashion’s fantasy land.  Some highlights are below and I encourage anyone interested to google a designer that you love and see complete collections as the edits were so difficult…the collections were amazing!

Armani Prive    

The Armani Prive 10th anniversary collection features a quiet confidence that the delicacy and strength of bamboo inspired within the designer. The color scheme was highly influenced by the paleness of the bamboo leaves. A detail that stood out was the Japanese influence of the obi belts that he used repeatedly in black. There were many shades of green, much sheerness, often printed and ending with his other favorite, shades of blue, often with black, that always gives a sophistication that is so Armani!

 Chanel

The question on my mind, as I’m sure many others, was what will Karl do next for Chanel?! The backdrop for this season’s concept which was called “Eden of Haute” by Women’s Wear Daily was that fashion was created in a garden.  The Grand Palais was converted to a stark white garden bursting with florals in bold colors. He began his intro to color with a collection of simple, unadorned suits that were followed by groupings of florals used in so many creative ways through adornments that were over-the-top….beautiful laces, embroidered tweeds, floral appliqués and so much more. Truly a feast for the eyes!  It should be noted that there were many low-slung skirts, a new item to his runway collection, that prompted Mr. Lagerfeld to say in one of his WWD previews, “the stomach  is free. It’s the new cleavage.”  I have no words for that as I bustle over to the gym…work-outs must get harder!!!

Dior

Raf Simons’ approach for Dior couture this season definitely expressed a futuristic tone which began with the conversion of Musee Rodin to a high tech setting complete with intricate white scaffolding  on pink carpet. He reached back to the romance of the 50’s, the experimentation of the 60’s & the liberation of the 70’s decades for inspiration that could be seen in the fabrics, details  of the garment fashions to the rubberized bold colored thigh high boots.

Valentino

The Valentino team of designers stressed that they were in the mood for love and the feeling of romanticism prevailed. They spoke in one voice of being hopeless romantics and looked for inspiration from Shakespeare to Chagal.  The prints were very dominant and almost folkloric in attitude and there was very much the use of velvet in many of the garments that I have highlighted, from soft steel blue to bold blood red, his signature, that is always very present in all Valentino collections.

 

Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli who was inspired by the Met Fashion Institute presentation, the Impossible Conversation…..Schiaparelli and Prada, created his own impossible conversation inspired collection….Coco Chanel v. Janis Joplin!?!  He was drawn to the free spirited dressing that was the style of each.  From Coco’s little menswear inspired jackets to Joplins wild layering of cocktail over pants.  It is all done the Valli way of edgy elegance that always includes voluminous tulle, similar to last year’s ombred gowns that were all over the media and red carpets.

Elie Saab

Elie Saab chose to use his collection to pay homage to his native Beirut and the women of the 60’s that surrounded him as he was growing up in the glory years.  The beauty of this collection,  was that he designed to the memory of his Mom in a lovely tulip dress that he recalled. There are tulips everywhere from the most subtle and luscious to the very identifiable graphic designs.  It is a theme that carried throughout mostly in powdery shades of ivory, pink, blues and greens.  Another favorite detail of choice was the use of ostrich feathers…..seen a lot in the couture shows this season!

Schiaparelli

The biggest news at Schiaparelli this season was that with the exit of lead designer Marco Zanini after two seasons, it was designed entirely by the in-house design team.  The whimsical prints which I loved were varied and one that caught my eye, particularly in this case, was the one that was a shout-out to the seamstresses,(featured below)  which after seeing the film Dior & I,  you can really appreciate the craftsmanship of these unsung heroes of couture.

Versace

Donatella Versace built her collection around the idea of “going back to the shape of a woman’s body which is curvy”, she stated to Style.com.  The result was evening dresses with swirling insets of nude mesh with slits, one-shoulder and asymmetrical looks, all in body-hugging styles.  For fun, there was the addition of the emoji-embroidered minidress that pulled the key colors, black, white, red and royal, together.  As Versace was very present on the Golden Globes Red Carpet….the media prediction is that there will be many of these gowns on the Grammy’s Red Carpet this Sunday, Feb. 8th…we’ll have to watch and see!

photos courtesy of Style.com

text courtesy of Style.com, Women’s Wear Daily, Daily Front Row