Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week day two: painterly details reign at Chanel and Armani

Unexpected materials and breathtaking details were the order of the day in the French capital

Stephane Rolland enjoyed mixing surfaces for his haute couture, as evidenced in this voluminous satin dress, encrusted with bakelite and crystal cabochon-cut pieces.

At Stephane Rolland, an antiqued gold tunic was fronted with beading of amber, red coral and citrin for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

Mixing the drama of Little Red Riding Hood with beads of marble, crystal and red coral at Stephane Rolland for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

A silk faille gown arrived with a 'spine' of ruffles at Stephane Rolland for autumn / winter 2021.

At Chanel, a tiered skirt was covered in feathers, while a halterneck top was decorated with lines of sequins and pom-poms.

At Chanel, a white bridal gown was made with fragile tiers and hand-applied feathers for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

A coat of sequins is worn over a skirt made from feathers at Chanel.

For Chanel, a delicate dress of tulle is encrusted with dense beading and pointillist flowers for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

A dress embellished with beading that echoed Claude Monet's 'Water 'Lilies' at Chanel.

Chanel presented a jacket covered with hand-applied feathers that took 2,000 hours to create.

Chanel offered this dress of silk faille, hand-embroidered to resemble boucle tweed, for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

Armani Prive created dresses of tightly layered tulle, and soft, almost hand-painted flowers.

Using fluid, metallic fabric, the Armani Prive haute couture collection danced with light.

Armani Prive mixed the high sheen of an almost molten fabric with the softness of feathers for haute couture.

Dense beading tops this column dress by Armani Prive for haute couture autumn / winter 2021.

In dark rose, this Armani Prive dress is overlayed with organza, beaded to resemble the dashes of an artist's pencil.

A perfectly tailored bracelet-sleeved jacket is mixed with a sheer skirt and cigarette pants at Armani Prive.

Trousers are layered with a high/low dress at Armani Prive haute couture.

Chanel and Armani Prive were among the latest maisons to unveil their collections on day two of Haute Couture Week in Paris.

The couture, which was showcased at runway displays on Tuesday, spoke of the skill of the atelier as much as the vision of designers.

Offering a masterclass in the true meaning of couture, the day gave a glimpse of the attention to detail that was truly breathtaking.

Here are the highlights from day two:

Chanel

At Chanel, Virginie Viard revealed a gently romantic collection in soft tones of pinks and greys, filled with astounding detail. While tricky to grasp virtually, the great beauty of couture comes into its own at close proximity, and here, Viard called on the skill of her atelier to transform sequins, feathers and embroidery into surfaces that echoed Impressionist art.

The urgent brushwork of van Gogh, for example, was translated into darkly gleaming sequins that swirled and eddied like his The Starry Night sky, while the watery marks of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies arrived as hand-painted flower petals, scattered across an empire-line dress.

A dress in the palest blue had a tiered skirt of barely-there feathers, each one coloured and applied by hand, while its halterneck top was made of fragile pompoms of downy fluff, surrounded by lines of silvery sequins.

Elsewhere, a floor-length skirt was teamed with a boxy jacket that at first glance looked to be covered in loose stitches, but turned out to be a flower pattern made of feathers, so delicate it took 2,000 hours to make. If the nobility of couture needed to be summed up in one item, this jacket might just be it.

Armani Prive

Over at Armani Prive, meanwhile, the couture side of Giorgio’s fashion empire, the designer, 86, sent out an impossibly chic collection.

Staged in front of a real-life audience, many looks were based around a metallic material so fluid it seemed to be almost liquid, creating a high iridescent sheen that was captivating to watch. In steely grey, it was cut into an elegant gown, with a light ruff of beaded gauze around the shoulders. In Armani's sure hand, though, this was kept from being overly pretty with a blunt-cut hem, sliced through at the ankle.

In apricot pink, the same material was carved into a column dress topped with a beaded bodice, while in dark rose, it also appeared as a fitted dress overlaid with organza, beaded to resemble the dashes of an artist's pencil.

There was also a series of looks made of sheer tulle skirts worn with cigarette trousers underneath, teamed with Armani's perfectly tailored, bracelet-sleeve jackets. Unfussy and stripped of adornment, many looks were beautifully simple, making those with beading feel even more precious. With florals a favourite pattern of Armani, here they arrived as light washes of colour, seemingly hand-painted on to organza in great sweeping strokes.

Stephane Rolland

Stephane Rolland, meanwhile, played with opposites for his couture collection. With exaggerated silhouettes, in sunshine yellow, fiery red, black and aged gold, Rolland tipped the flowing fabric against large-scale beading in unexpected materials.

A voluminous gown in sunflower yellow had oversized sleeves and beading of Bakelite and crystal, as a tunic dress in antique gold had the entire front decorated with beads of marble, amber and citrin.

One look seemed to have stepped straight out of a fairy tale, as if Little Red Riding Hood had suddenly taken to wearing couture to meet her grandmother. Here, Rolland mixed the drama of red satin yardage – with a hood that ended somewhere around the waist – with a stiff bodice, completely covered in marble, red coral and crystal.

A strapless gown in inky black silk faille, meanwhile, had a "spine" of ruffles that stretched from shoulder to floor, and balanced the tight bodice covered in a mosaic of marble and Bakelite.