Drama on the runway at Couture Week

Chloe Street and Joe Bromley report on all the action from an unusually dramatic Paris couture week

THE bi-annual Paris Haute Couture shows are typically serene sequin and feather-heavy affairs, as celebrities and the ultra-rich flock to the city of light to window-shop dresses with £250,000 price tags for their upcoming big events.

With crystal-covered Doja Cats and taxidermy big cats causing uproar on day one on Monday, this week’s shows kicked off with an unusually spicy start. And with underwear, nepo babies and topsy-turvy optical illusion gowns hitting the runway, proceedings have continued in much the same vein.

In times of such turbulence, is couture having a crisis? Here’s what you need to know…

Fresh faces on the F’row

Nothing grabs a headline like an unexpected face sat front row, and this season they’ve turned out in their welldressed droves. Tennis’s loss would seem to be fashion’s gain, as eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer and his wife Mirka sidled up to Anna Wintour and director Baz Luhrmann at Christian Dior and Chanel. The retired player was announced as a Met Gala co-chair last week, and is wasting no time scrubbing up his sartorial serves.

From The White Lotus’s Simona Tabasco at Giambattista Valli, to The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki at Dior and Emily in Paris’s hot chef Lucas Bravo at Giorgio Armani Privé, TV’s new serial stars are fashion week’s new darlings.

But it’s the K-Pop megastars who have attracted the biggest crowds outside shows. Blackpink’s Jisoo was mobbed at Dior on Monday, while BIGBANG’s G-Dragon was a VIP at Chanel. With a combined Instagram following of 89.5 million, they’re contenders for the most influential attendees.

The Schiap Scandal

Couture week started with chaos. The Schiaparelli show was first on the schedule, and in a nod to Dante’s Inferno, outfits made of impossibly lifelike lion heads, snow leopards and wolves were worn by supermodels Irina Shayk, Shalom Harlow and Naomi Campbell on the catwalk. Kylie Jenner had Mufasa on her front as she clapped on, front row.

Outrage, justified or not, ensued. Carrie Johnson, who is famously an animal lover, called them “grim” for promoting trophy hunting. PETA president Ingrid Newkirk disagreed, saying the “looks celebrate the beauty of wild animals”.

Negative press is new to Daniel Roseberry, who has been the brand’s creative director since 2019. House founder Elsa Schiaparelli, who made Shocking Pink her signature shade back in 1937, may have enjoyed the commotion.

The Nepos

New York magazine’s December issue sent the term “Nepo baby” stratospheric. Now, all eyes are tuned to the offspring of the A-list elite. The popculture klaxons sounded on Tuesday when Apple Martin, the 18-year-old daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, made her F’row debut at Chanel.

She was not the only person with a sparkling family tree in the spotlight. Iris Law, daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, took to the catwalk, closing Alexandre Vauthier’s show in a puff

sleeved, black velvet dress with a pink ruffled front. Cheering her on was fellow nep-offspring Noah Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray and sister of Miley.

Couture catsuits

Thought you’d wear a floor-length gown to your next formal event? Think again, for this season couturiers made the case for black-tie bodysuits.

At Chanel, Virginie Viard’s circus-inspired couture collection featured a black lace jumpsuit hand-painted with a floral motif and embellished with braid and ladybird jewel buttons, while Italian designer Giambattista Valli offered three spray-on diamante catsuits with flowing Grecian organza trains — similar to the shimmering nude sequin catsuit German influencer Leonie Hanne wore to the Valentino show last night. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri took things a step further with sweet satin almost-swimsuits-turned-party-pieces under beaded kimono coats.

Upside down (boy you turn me)

The Dutch avant-garde duo are known as kings of the concept collection, but this season Viktor & Rolf surpassed expectations. Traditional tulle ballgowns which are a fixture of the lesser-known couturiers’ collections streamed out, to a feeling of deflation. Then, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren flipped the prom dress cliche on its head.

Dresses kept their classic structure, but the pair played with placement — topsy turvy frocks jetted off models’ shoulders and, in some cases, were worn completely horizontal. The star gown was sky blue and upside down, with a strapless neckline sitting on the hips and full skirt shooting up to the ceiling.

New London names to know

He’s dressed everyone from Solange to Cardi B, Tracee Ellis Ross, Doja Cat and Celine

Dion, but eight years on from launching his firm, London-based, Hong Kong-born couturier Robert Wun is yet to receive the industry recognition he deserves. Tonight that could all change, as the 31-year-old designer makes his debut on fashion’s glossiest stage.

2020 Central Saint Martins graduate Miss Sohee also made her couture-week debut earlier this week, packing the grand ballroom at the Westin Paris Vendôme, where Yves Saint Laurent used to present his collections. The London-based South Korean designer, who made a splash last year with a Milan show sponsored by Dolce & Gabanna, delivered a divinely dark and sultry collection in velvets and taffeta with intricate embroideries of flowers, birds and insects.

Flower power 2.0

Like crystals and OTT embroidery, florals are hardly a couture runway rarity. But this season’s blooms came 3D and supersized.

At Giambattista Valli vast billowing organza roses made for ear-cocooning epaulettes — “as a metaphor for the blossoming of the soul of the woman” — while Giorgio Armani Privé’s giant black leather and bead-encrusted poppies were brooches and belts.

Lebanese couturier Elie Saab’s soft grey mini-dress was covered in 8,000 crystals and 5,000 pearls, with 35 metres of silk gazar worked into diaphanous 3D blooms at the shoulder. It also had a long, 3D freesia-drenched train. Carrie Bradshaw’s favourite corsage is cool again.

The star gown was sky blue and upside down, with a neckline on the hips and a full skirt shooting to the ceiling

The male gaze

The divisive topic this couture week was gender imbalance on the official schedule. Only seven of the 29 collections were designed by women, and Iris van Herpen, the visionary Dutch designer, is not amused. “Fashion design is still a male-dominated world, even though a lot of them are designing for women,” she told the Standard.

On the runways, dated visions of femininity proved her point. At Georges Hobeika, a fully sheer gown worn with nude knickers was more objectifying than artistic. Similarly, Julien Fourniē sent out a basic underwear set sprinkled with crystal embroideries, which was decidedly more Victoria’s Secret than the pinnacle of craftsmanship. “Everything has gone back to the old ways,” van Herpen says. It might be time for the Fédération de la Haute Couture to revise the couture clan.

Purple reign

Fashion’s fuchsia fetish continues unabated, but this season’s couture shows hinted, tentatively, at a new haute hue. The highlight of Dior’s show were two sheath-like velvet maxi dresses, one of which came in the most expensive-looking regal purple.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s show, guest-designed by Haider Ackermann, featured a sculptural egg-shaped amethyst maxi dress, while Valentino’s club-themed collection numbered several lilac looks and a regal purple ruffled taffeta ballgown, tied with a cutesy white bow.