Dear Shaded Viewers,
Schiaparelli designer Daniel Roseberry has over recent seasons presented shows where intense couture workmanship and craft is paramount in many of the pieces. Traditions in couture, and the strong creative heritage within a house like Schiaparelli are essential ingredients to success. This season shifted rather more into synthetic constructions and latex, rubber, silicone, etc used in forming body part replicas or extraordinary deep sea creatures. It felt like a departure from the couture that has made Schiaparelli and Roseberry so headline grabbing and successful. The pieces which were more “traditional” like the embroidered skirt front with shells nestling in flowers growing larger in size from top to bottom, then the extraordinary white draped dress or the silver on silver on silver sparkling embroidered dress were for me stronger. The black suit looks were superb, and a wonderful pair of trousers embroidered with silks, and pearls and resembling a pale version of the Great Barrier Reef were lovely. I wonder where the house is heading next since in pret a porter obviously the accessories, jewellery and handbags do so amazingly well as adding a touch of surrealist glamour, be it with classic pieces or jeans. I felt that there was less craft and couture, it felt like a shift to a more experimental and off the wall kind of approach, and one I’m fascinated to see how Mr Roseberry pursues. Interesting.
Messika showed jewels the collection entitled “Terre de Contrastes” was inspired by Botswana and nature, Namibia, crocodiles, the land, and the Kalahari, yet in their sumptuous splendour for me they were truly “out of this world” the stones, the pieces, the gems were extraordinary and in spite of the images on display I still felt that the collection had a cosmic power. In the salons of the Hotel Crillon we saw jewellery that transcends time or space, pieces that looked eternal. As though imagined by not just by the Artistic Director and founder designer, Valérie Messika, but also by cosmic force. The splendour had a regal beauty that seemed to come from time and cultures unknown. A necklace diving into a tassel, a necklace almost created as a collar, perhaps worn in an alien monarchy, stones that were of intense and unique colours. A necklace of diamonds forming a hoop or ring from which a square cut emerald was suspended within a square of more diamonds. It was modern, with its clean geometric lines, yet also futuristic in its simplicity. As for the centrepiece, I quote from the press release “Le Okavango Blue necklace celebrates a landmark partnership between Messika and the Government of Botswana. Discovered in 2018 at the Orapa Mine, it is the largest and rarest blue diamond ever to emerge from Botswana: 41.11 carats in its rough state, polished to 20.46 carats, classified Fancy Deep Blue. The stone reveals a shade of austral blue; water, light and earth held in perfect accord.” Although to me it looked less of the earth and more as though from a celestial galaxy!
Iris van Herpen is a designer for aliens, fantasy islands and outer space occasions, yet underneath it all her extraordinary vision also produces some of the most beautiful couture pieces anywhere. The seventeen looks embraced both volume like explosions or clouds and slender threads of pattern arching around the body. I realised that both Robert Wun and Daniel Roseberry are more in harmony with the Iris van Herpen conceptual approach than I’ve ever noticed before. The van Herpen conceptual idea of making pieces out of rhythmic repeats was less in evidence and the flowing free fall nature was beautiful. Tendrils, sea anemones and jellyfish, alien life or creatures from the deepest oceans, floating, wafting like ethereal spirits. The theatricality of Iris van Herpen is never allowed to dominate the fact this fashion. Although rare, when seen at events it’s clear her pieces work for special clients and their occasions. My stand out piece was the nude dress spiralling and looping out covered in pearly bubbles. It had a timeless beauty but it also made me think of how Iris van Herpen and her team can harness the impossible and make it real. To secure the pearls, to create the impression that the pearls then formed themselves into the swirls, and finally to make it look easy is extraordinary.
Ronald van der Kemp showed in a tiny space but also took his models between the two sides of the space along the pavement outside. Street fashion never looked so gorgeous. It was a collection of highlights from start to finish, exhibiting the designers ability to indeed create a wardrobe, from day to night from street to nightclub and from shopping to socialising, I loved the pale salmon draped top, shown with a golden finely pleated skirt but perfect also with chinos, jeans or a pencil skirt, I loved the totally mad woven ribbon patchwork belted jacket, again RVDK showed it with gold trousers, and again it would work with myriad options from jeans to a black velvet floor length skirt. The ice blue velvet dress with huge dévore palm fronds was beautiful. The black draped toga dress over deep amethyst shimmer, or the theming black and white bolero with black ribbons like a Velasquez portrait were also terrific. However, when I discovered that the finale look was made of fabric once directed for the use of Josephine Baker I knew that had to be my favourite, as it flirted along with the model working her killer golden heels and the feathery nod to the Casino de Paris and Folies Bergeres, I was ready to applaud vigorously.
Kevin Germanier not only does amazing things, but he also has a wonderful colour and pattern sense. The shirt and jackets for the men, each I assume based on a vintage upcycled piece, not only did I want both of them in my wardrobe, but the swirling patterns and colours clearly had Germanier written in the personality of the work and the witty nonchalance of them. The dress in a colour somewhere between amethyst and plum zig zagged down the body in sheer revealing the complex understructure was embroidered with sparkling loops of plastic it seemed almost worked in Aran or knitwear patterns until floating out into a silk mousseline skirt. I adored the proportions of the long line torso and long tight sleeves all in black bursting into an explosion of black plastic “feathers” with a huge lime green hem rippling along at the bottom. The world, and Paris haute couture would be a poorer place without Germanier and his joyful and playful, yet beautiful and extraordinarily skilful work each season. It’s couture for another planet but realised here, it’s couture for the future shown today, thank you Kevin for sharing with us your vision.
Firmly rooted in mathematics and her own culture ArdAzAei offered a collection of otherworldly inventions. A tiny jacket seemingly fashion out of bleached flowers or leaves, impossible? A draped chiffon dress was not only in autumnal colours and patterns but apparently was made out of the very essence of the season. The plissé panels on the hip of an evening dress were extraordinary as they looked like the insides of mushrooms or even Hellenic shields. The dresses in cinnamon coloured mousseline one was literally held together as plissé with stitching, the other below it’s fitted and stitched corset top had godets let in to then flutter and ruffle as though they were again made from real leaves. The technical dexterity and the focus of the collection was quietly spectacular because on the surface it was beautiful but in twenty six pieces the designer told a complex and inventive story from classic black to brilliant blue, from natures fruits and flowers to coutures need for a little black dress in the collection. Unconventional and subversive under the surface, I wonder is the Swedish Iranian background of designer Bahareh Ardakani responsible for this balance.
The roar of the audience that greeted Yuima Nakazato after his show was so well deserved. In a dark theatre on a darks stage real candles at the front and panels as a back drop we watched five models transformed. The Noh or Kabuki concept of invisible figures in black meant the designer and his team redressed, abstracted or added throughout the show, finally exhibiting five almost icon like looks, glittering and vibrating in the stage lights. The models shifted from slender and restricted to ceremonial and grand, from panels of extraordinary textures and surfaces to waves and almost Hokusai prints. Each model kept returning to their original spot, where suspended were al, the pieces to add and subtract, the masks, the hats etc. it felt ritualistic and as though we were witnessing a moment. It felt for me at times very reptilian and I was reminded of the ancient Egyptian worshipping of crocodiles, although some of the surface looked angular enough for alligators, even though there wasn’t actually any animal references. However, many panels and pieces looked like scales or even were armadillo like in their heavy pieces of decoration. The clothes are hard to describe in detail both because of the lighting, the rearrangements and the extraordinary fabrics and layers the designer uses. I suggest YouTube to see the splendour of the event.
Ever since his first show I’ve watched Robert Wun do amazing things and sometimes I’ve watched an odd look which I personally and professionally thought misjudged. Not this time – from start to finish it was perfect. The perfect paint splashed ball gown, the incredible exaggerated dandy in deepest rose pink with coat and the rose under glass as a tiny chapeau. The swirling blue velvet dress with poised birds, were they helping, securing, attacking or indeed not really birds but spirits? The trapeze or A line piece literally covered in vibrating feather fronds and the space helmet was amazing. It linked bizarrely in my memory to Courreges somehow with its whit space age message. However, the Milky Way, star galaxy coat was just a superb move on from the rain spattered looks Wun has done in the past, the silhouette being both a Renaissance ceremonial court robe and an other worldly everyday coat, its curving architectural lines exaggerated by godets inserted to make it bigger. Of course a space helmet and solid silver beaded gloves completed this look. And I’m sorry but the only possible verdict is “out of this world”.
Manish Malhotra dedicated his collection and Paris couture debut show to his mother who died earlier this year. The collection used India and its culture, traditions, the designers memories and links to earlier generations and also to a variety of traditions and styles in both pieces and embroideries. It was a big collection and the silhouettes went from vast cocooned shapes to mini dresses. I loved so much, but felt an edit would have made it even stronger. But, I do totally understand that for your première you want to show off and demonstrate how amazing your ateliers and workrooms are, clearly in the over exaggerated proportions of one or two pieces he was showing off. The coat made seemingly entirely of rose petals with dragged along with a dramatic weight, I thought of Elinor Glyn nd her extraordinary novel Three Weeks, it was a passionate coat. The white on white macrame and tassels dress was breathtaking and again seemed to have stepped from the pages of a book. Each key piece had the leading lady or heroine vibe to it, strong women looking amazing, as in the three looks based around a bra top or choli and a triangular skirt. One in white on white embroidery and scroll work, one with fabric swirl work and the third on a deep red background of white birds flying. The birds might be cranes or ibis or osprey but it’s unimportant, these three ceremonial yet modern looks were superbly thought out, the balance and proportions just right. All in all another great addition to the couture calendrier from India to join Gaurav Gupta and Rahul Mishra.
Chanel
Chanel
Dior
Dior
Chanel and Dior
I’ve written this as a reminder of the importance of these two houses, but of their differences, which are many more than their similarities. It’s easy to speculate about rivalry and competition between these two great fashion houses. It’s easy to guess and gossip about who’s doing what, who’s successful and what is happening in the studios, and it’s easy to have a favourite since the two designers are, as they should be, completely different. Chanel is entirely privately owned by the Wertheimer family, since they originally went into partnership with Gabrielle “ Coco” Chanel in the 1920’s. She had first launched back in 1910. Her most famous silhouette is the boxy straight cut Chanel suit alongside the Art Deco drop waist little black dress. Christian Dior was originally a gallerist who moved into fashion and worked for Lucien Lelong and left to found his own company in 1946. His most famous silhouette is the. Ur ing constructed bar jacket with a tiny waist a a big full long pleated skirt “ The New Look”. The house is now owned by Bernard Arnault as part of the LVMH group. Matthieu Blazy is French/Belgian trained at La Cambre in Brussels. Jonathan Anderson is Northern Irish trained at London College of Fashion. That’s all I’m writing for now, since I was not at either show and I only had a re-see at Dior. I’m reserving the right to remain silent, and I’m taking my time to try to evaluate fairly the two designers work. I have my personal opinions all ready, but as a fashion writer I must also have an impartial and professional view of these creative directors work, both aesthetically and commercially. If the products aren’t selling, however much any of us like their work, it’s a failure. Fashion and clothes are meant to be worn, not simply displayed, either on the catwalk or in a museum, so, in the final analysis of fashion, it is its success in finding clients, even at the highest luxury levels. Anyway, I hope you can see my point that the two house have very little in common in history, business or designer.
Later,
Tony Glenville
