Corsets at Chanel. What would Coco have said, given she is credited with banishing them from women’s wardrobes in the early part of the 20th century? But she would surely have approved of Karl Lagerfeld’s couture sneakers (she was the first to borrow sport elements for fashion in the 1920s), notably embellished with embroidery and jewels. They clearly will become the must-have accessory of the season – as long as you can afford the couture dress to go with them.
Models skipped lightly down the twin staircases at the Chanel show in the Grand Palais, bouncing with energy in their sneakers. Their vitality symbolised the youthful spirit that threaded its way through several of the haute couture collections last week. Lagerfeld, in one of his loveliest collections for the house, gave Chanel a sporty vibe. He fitted cropped jackets over stretchy corseted dresses in white flowery lace or tweeds in pretty soft pastel hues that sweetly twinkled with crystals.
The sweetness and charm of youth set the scene at Christian Dior where Raf Simons’s shoe of the season is a twinkling slip-on scuba style. His easy-to-wear dresses, however, were a technical tour de force in terms of the breezy laser-cut honeycomb patterned fabrics. Every piece was carefully cut and embroidered to create innovative textures – the detail was lavish, but the overall look was remarkably understated, perhaps because there was barely a bag or jewel in sight. The emphasis was on the lightness of the fabrics and the modern imaginings of classic Dior silhouettes.
Hussein Chalayan’s debut at Vionnet, the demi-couture house owned by Goga Ashkenazi, opted for relaxed simplicity with five organza gowns featuring circular laser cut-outs. There is no greater display of youth than the rebelliousness of a white T-shirt dress, which Maison Martin Margiela used as a frame for antique fabric appliqués.
Giambattista Valli has a young, girlish audience that laps up his short, glam dresses. Leggy and sculpted with big swooshy swags and bows around the thighs, his dresses are for wealthy party girls.
Schiaparelli made a return nearly 60 years after her house was shuttered. The label was bought by Diego Della Valle, the owner of Tod’s – and the creative director Marco Zanini presented a playful collection to mark the house’s return to haute couture. He made only the subtlest of references to Elsa Schiaparelli, who was a close friend of the Surrealist artists and Chanel’s rival during the 1930s and 1940s. Zanini’s collection nevertheless captures the essence of Schiaparelli, notably with the tuxedo jackets that reversed to white silk chiffon ruffles or feathers, irreverently worn with flat, crocodile sandals.
Many couture collections were not an obvious source of red-carpet material for the forthcoming Oscars. The Versace collection, however, is heading off this weekend to Hollywood, where the nominees will rifle through the liquid, jersey draped dresses with their futuristic tattoo patterned corsetry. The Grace Jones-inspired hooded gowns would look perfect on someone with a strong sense of style such as Angelina Jolie.
Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad are other red-carpet favourites and Georges Hobeika is a rising star. Saab’s shimmering, pastel-hued gowns with their signature embroideries, however, may be upstaged this year by his draped plissé chiffon goddess gowns that come in delphinium blue, raspberry, shell pink and white. Several dresses had trains, which will surely make a dramatic entrance (and exit) on the carpet.
Murad’s sinuous fishtail gowns gilded in gold or embellished with jet beading have Oscar potential, although his white dinner suits with their gilded buttons indicate he also has a talent for tailoring. The Middle Eastern designers, as well as Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier and the London-based Australian newcomers Ralph & Russo, applied themselves to the traditional concepts of couture design with elegant tailoring and evening gowns.
Armani, another Oscars favourite, presented a collection of silk jacquard pantsuits, gypsy skirts and jackets in shades of navy and midnight blue that twinkled with starry crystals. He coupled this with an exhibition of highlights from all his previous Armani Privé collections, illustrating the supreme craftsmanship of his ateliers. The skill and expertise of the ateliers from Paris to Beirut and Milan should be cherished as much as the creativity of the designers.
• View our Paris haute couture slideshow at www.thenational.ae/lifestyle
