CHANEL
For Virgine Viard the Chanel collection was about giving accessibility to one of the many iconic places in Gabrielle Chanel’s history, to bring the viewer through contemporary art into a magical space with a modern haute couture collection that highlights the idea of the elegance of simplicity as a fundamental aspect of beauty and the imagination involved in haute couture. If we were given a one-day tour of Gabrielle Chanel’s renowned apartment at 31 rue Cambon in Paris, focusing on the small zoo of sculptures that guard Madame’s apartment, the collection would be such a tour. Presented in the manner of a Trojan horse, with models emerging from inside wooden sculptures created by artist Xavier Veilhan.
Adherence to simple, basic, and solid principles perfectly balanced results in a collection that appeals to the modern fashion wearer. With this in mind, the collection never loses sight of the Maison’s codes as dictated by Mademoiselle Coco but injected with Viard’s very contemporary vision.
Military jackets in white, colorful varieties of Chanel tweed in coats, pleated skirts, long and close-fitting dresses in black or white lace, from short to long. As a final touch to the collection, a bridal look that if the bride were to leave the church as a happy newlywed, white doves released to symbolize a happy marriage would be attached to the dress in the form of embroidery, as if to wish her lasting love and serenity.
ALEXIS MABILLE
If we were going to have a color therapy, without a doubt the most successful one would be “Color-Addict”, Alexis Mabille’s haute couture collection. Starting with looks in shades of gold, then green, orange, red, blue, pink, yellow and fuchsia, mixed with different types of dresses, from asymmetrical necklines, knitted, long lingerie dress, large parachute caftan to close with a long backless dress in organza embroidered with multicolored motifs, rectangular top made with changing organza panels that are thrown to the back.
STÉPHANE ROLLAND
For this season Stéphane Rolland managed to bring out in his collection the beauty of the aesthetic power of bossa nova. Highlighting the elegance of movement and the timeless elegance of the famous Brazilian musical genre throughout the presentation, the couture collection pays homage to Orfeu Negro, Marcel Camus’ masterpiece, transposing Orpheus and the myth of Eurydice in a Brazil fantasized with tangible realism.
Like the play and the film, the designer presented his “play” in three acts, transposing in his designs the art of Brazilian architecture, culture, music, and cinema:
Act I: Oscar Niemeyer’s modern architecture meets Bossa Nova’s sensuality.
The collection begins to stand out starting with a look with a half poncho in iridescent white voile adorned with a sculpture on the shoulder, similar to a marble sculpture in its loom wake. Column-like dresses in white gazar are reminiscent of the Alborada in Brasilia, while dresses from the Sambódromo exposed the legs. In some outfits, Brazilian stones adorned the body in clusters to break the minimalism of the pieces.
Act II: Amazonian immersion. Between ritual and art.
Dresses with totem pole features of coffee brown jersey or crepe are embroidered with symbols carved or cut out in mirrors. A harem pants jumpsuit in bark brown meets a giant emerald green charmeuse poncho embroidered with malachite. The ritual ends with gigantesque ebony cuffs and rings, long stems of earrings, exalted by Rolland’s Eurydice.
Act III: The sun rises. The gold of the conquerors bursts into light.
Gold Brocard cape suit, long dress with chasuble in metallic stitch embroidered with crystal, gigantic baianas dresses in lamé gazar, a metallic leather jacket and an iconic dress in platinum crepe embroidered with amethysts…as if Euridice had received this welcome to paradise by the embrace of the sun, accompanied by precious and spiritual women dressed in the baroque style of the churches of Bahia. In a finale that started from minimalism to abundance, Rolland gathers the extremes to find the perfect balance that characterizes Bossa Nova. A beautiful closing with a new light.
GIORGIO ARMANI PRIVÉ
Held at the Garde Républicaine in Paris.
Taking a character like the Harlequin, who is both a critic and a caricaturist, is something interesting when we take it to the field of fashion, where criticism is quite common. For this season of haute couture, Giorgio Armani was inspired by the particular Commedia dell ‘Arte and unmasked it in 78 looks that denote the art of haute couture through the masterful use of the characteristic rhomboid pattern both in the type of pieces and in the texture, size, color, and depth of the pattern.
