ELEGANT PRECISION: HAUTE COUTURE (AUTUMN 2013)

Valentino Couture (Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccoli)

Ever since Valentino’s departure in 2008, the challenge has been how to keep the iconic Italian label contemporary. In demand by royalty since the 1960’s (that’s showbiz and political royalty along with the real thing), Valentino has been for decades, a byword for elegance.

Meeting that challenge head-on, Chiuri and Piccoli have rewritten Valentino’s template for glamour. Bringing together top-notch workmanship with Medieval and Baroque references, this season’s couture collection was a history lesson in every sense of the word. Taking Valentino’s solid reputation as its base, the collection built on this with layers of tweed and cashmere, overlaid with exquisitely-worked embroidery. The silhouette of choice was regal elegance: high-necks, full, splaying skirts and cinched waists. This really was a collection fit for a princess, filled with detail, dresses and capes were covered with hand-stitched motifs of seashells and coral. This was off-centre glamour; created for women who want an elegant and precise mode of couture. Haute Couture has sometimes garnered a reputation for excess and grandeur: here the Valentino team created modern couture for the modern woman, mastering the art of business with beauty.

Elie Saab Couture (Elie Saab)

If Valentino is famous for kitting out royalty, then Elie Saab is surely the ultimate destination for film stars wanting to prep for the red-carpet.

Synonymous with sparkle and shine, Saab has been a regular fixture on the red-carpet ever since his rose-strewn gown was worn by Halle Berry to the 2002 Oscars. Saab has been known as a red-carpet favourite for over a decade now, with starlets and more established names alike opting for his glamour-packed gowns.

However, this season’s collection, while hitting all the high notes one would expect from Saab, got there by taking a different route.

The embellishments, Saab’s calling card, were presented with a crucial element of restraint.  With a darker palette of dove-grey, maroon and navy blue, the sparkle was toned down and replaced by an emphasis on form. Google any of Saab’s previous collections, and you’ll soon notice that volume plays a large part in creating an impact.  A Saab gown is unapologetic about taking up space on a red-carpet. But if you look at this season’s collection, the voluminous skirts are replaced by a simpler silhouette. The Elie Saab dress now takes tailoring as its starting point, and the embellishments, whilst still present, are applied with a restraint that creates a PR-friendly brand of conservative elegance that’s perfect for the post-recession red carpet. Meeting the ever-complex needs of his clientele, Elie Saab’s latest collection is a masterclass on how couture delivers results.

Chanel Couture (Karl Lagerfeld)

With models emerging from a shining, glittering metropolis to take to the runway, Karl Lagerfeld made it very clear within the opening seconds of his show that his eye was firmly set on the future.

Futuristic, modern touches were everywhere in this Chanel collection: metallic thread was woven into the body of the iconic Chanel tweed jackets; geometric prints matched with sequinned skirts and boxy, squared-off silhouettes set the tone.

The most interesting aspect of the collection, however, was Karl’s take on proportion. Layering cropped jackets over tunics, leggings and boots, this workable approach to winter layers used tone-on-tone to create a look that felt unified and coherent. Adding grunge-chic texture for interest, Karl’s idea for figure-friendly layering is already proving to be a winner, with many fashion pundits dubbing this the look of the season.

Dior Couture (Raf Simons)

If there was one word you could take away from Raf Simons’ third collection for Dior Couture, it was ‘multi-cultural’.

Using the Dior staples (the Bar jacket, houndstooth print and the black wool day dress), Simons transformed them with African beading and Japanese tailoring. This was a play on fashion semantics; taking our expectations of Dior Couture and inverting them. Featuring African prints with Japanese obi-belts, this was Dior speaking an international language. As couture moves into new territories (and new cultures), Simons predicts how fashion will absorb these ideas and translate them into a new definition of luxury. This collection was clever and proof that Raf Simons (along with Karl Lagerfeld) is keeping an eye on what’s to come.

Atelier Versace (Donatella Versace)

Atelier Versace opened the couture season with a bang, choosing Naomi Campbell to open their show. Walking for the label for the first time in 15 years, this was a show-opener with maximum impact.

Again, Versace’s show was punctuated with a mood of restraint and subtlety (or at least, subtlety by Versace standards). The sexy silhouette of the Italian label was out in full force, with lace jumpsuits and corsets taking the lead, with the show-stopping sequinned gowns following behind to provide the big finish.

The high-octane glamour, though, was tempered by use of a sober palette: the acid-yellows and neon pinks of last Spring were replaced by forest greens and petrol blues. It was still dishing up glamazon fierceness, the Versace badge of honour, but this was Versace contained; an altogether different animal. This was not Versace tamed – merely a Versace more inclined to win your over by seduction, rather than stealth. The pieces we recognise as being hallmark Versace were re-arranged to create a fresh interpretation of an old standard.

This was a common theme in many of the couture collections: how to make couture, according to British Vogue, ‘relevant in a modern world’. It is a mistake to think of couture as the cumbersome, slow-moving Leviathan to its swifter cousin, ready-to-wear. Couture has been the branch of the fashion industry quickest to respond and adapt to the challenges of dressing a recessionist world. In 2008, haute couture was predicted to be the first casualty of the global recession. Five years later, it is stronger than ever, with new couture houses such as Giambattista Valli joining the more familiar names of Chanel and Dior.

A delicate balance has been struck this season; in-between the bold strokes of creativity essential for couture, and a tempered accessibility required by its new clientele. The idea of handcrafted fashion may seem like one that belongs to another age, but what was shown this season, is that couture can stay in the game by changing its ideas.  By trading on its strengths and not playing it safe, couture has weathered the recession not because it is necessary, but because it is beautiful, and in fashion, beauty is the easiest sale of all.

HELEN TOPE

IN PRAISE OF…COUTURE

While the rest of us struggle with the January blues, fashion is firmly in 2012 with couture season ending this week in Paris. Traditionally worn by socialites, couture’s fanbase has somewhat shifted over the years, taking in new pockets of wealth from around the globe.  Once described as a dying art, haute couture has had a new lease of life in recent years with Hollywood coming to Paris, hungry for a taste of the most exclusive fashion in the world. The Armani Prive show got its very own Hollywood moment when Jessica Chastain got the Oscar call whilst seated in the front row. Armani has a long history in dressing Hollywood, and the Prive collection has proved incredibly popular. This season’s collection was tailor-made for starlets, with sequinned bodices and incredible beaded gowns in glorious shades of green. The silver chevron gown in particular was a winner, just begging for a chance to shine on the red-carpet.

The most controversial note of the week was struck by Jean Paul Gaultier. Forming an entire collection in tribute to singer Amy Winehouse, from the trademark peroxide sweep in the models’ beehived hair to the pencil skirts worn with attitude, this was a collection with a sole purpose. Celebrating Amy’s unique style, which so neatly dovetailed with her music, Gaultier may have hit the headlines but this act was far from cynical. Gaultier’s collection had a poignancy that hit you right between the eyes, asking us just one question – what if?

While JPG was exploring the past, Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel was setting his sights squarely on the future. The light, airy feel of icy-blue and deepest navy formed the perfect backdrop for Lagerfeld’s newest take on femininity. Drop-waists on dresses, slouchy pockets and hair sculpted into sky-high quiffs – this was Chanel in familiar territory: boy meets girl. A welcome departure from Chanel’s previous post-apocalyptic seasons, this collection was bright, breezy and above all else, very, very cool.

Winning the prize for sheer number of hours spent on the sewing floor, Valentino’s design duo, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, took craftsmanship to the next level. With a reported 350 hours spent creating just one piece, the result was a couture show packed with ethereal, heart-stopping detail. Taffeta, lace and organza took centre stage but underpinning the whole collection was the reminder that these dream-like creations were made by hand. Ever y piece was so finely stitched, those who examined the pieces up close at the atelier, had to remind themselves that this was all human endeavour. Piccoli and Chiuri first made their name as accessory designers, and as they told www.style.com, they quickly learned how to ‘tell a big story with a small object.’ It is in the small details that the big picture comes to life, and this is the essence of couture. Piccoli and Chiuri understand very clearly how story-telling in fashion can come down to the smallest stitch.

With Chanel, Valentino, Armani and Versace appearing in such good health, it seems that reports of couture’s demise have been greatly exaggerated: in 2009, haute couture was deemed to be on the brink of extinction. After all, in a financial maelstrom, who would possibly want a blouse at £20,000? But three years later, couture is thriving thanks to new customers in China, Russia and beyond. There has been murmurs about whether this has led to a more consumer-friendly couture, rather than the wild, playful exploration of ideas it was ten years ago, but the deal with couture is that it can be both.  From Riccardo Tisci’s Metropolis-inspired, highly restrained collection to the glamazon excesses at Versace, the beauty of couture is that there is room for every kind of expression. This is no time for half-measures – fashion needs diversity in order to survive. Couture is no longer about indulgence, but fearless, game-changing creativity. Haute Couture has evolved into an entirely different kind of animal, and its timing is perfect.

HELEN TOPE