On Tuesday at Paris Haute Couture Week, Giorgio Armani delivered a celebrity circus of a couture show. On the front row, a shimmying Kate Hudson mingled with Jared Leto; Sophia Loren pouted; Pink tapped her foot; and Juliette Binoche caught up with fellow actress Chloë Grace Moretz.
The ushers had to link arms to form a human wall when the show ended to protect the myriad stars from the masses and deliver them to the safety of backstage.
It’s not often that Karl Lagerfeld is outdone in the Hollywood stakes – but Chanel’s front row shows that he’s focusing his attention on couture-hungry Asia.
Overlays through a palette of red, white and black defined Armani’s autumn/winter aesthetic. And the result was a rare intellectual show from the Italian master of safe classicism.
Quilted-effect ruffled capes mixed with shorts alongside curved-shouldered pantsuits with exaggerated tubular sleeves. This began a play in proportion. Armani segmented the clothes, producing jacket sleeves that went high and appeared separate from the torso. This silhouette then fluffed out into some voluminous net clouds dresses fit for Lady Gaga.
But the crescendo came at the end, in overlays of polka dots, chenille embroidery and billowing tulle veils that played cleverly with differing depths.
• Look out for our round-up of the best of Paris Haute Couture Week in the July 13 edition of Arts&Life
