The spring 2013 haute couture presentations in Paris, which ended on Thursday, were a whirlwind of new high fashion. From Chanel’s lesbian brides to Valentino’s carpal tunnel–creating techniques to Margiela’s new bounty of Kanye West–pleasing face masks, the past four days of couture shows didn’t disappoint. See the highlights.
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Karl Lagerfeld chose a forest setting for Chanel’s haute couture collection, filling Paris’s Grand Palais with sky-high trees and his models appearing as sylphlike birds with plumes of feathered chiffon hanging from their hair. The collection’s mix of collarbone-framing iridescent tweeds and frothy gowns were a nod to German romanticism of the late 18th century. But he brought things back to modern day by finishing the show with two brides who strolled the runway hand in hand—a cheeky, optimistic nod to France’s current debate on gay marriage.
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A lean silhouette led the way at Armani Privé. Stovepipe pants were cut from an array of interesting jacquards and paired with matching jackets and artistic tops. There were lots of prints and embellishments, many asymmetrical fez hats, and oddly enough—lots of small batons. The kaleidoscopic objects were thoughtfully included in lieu of belt buckles, shoulder brooches, and sometimes jewelry. But the small objects weren’t couture’s version of a Happy Meal, offering a limited-edition toy with purchase of that pricey outfit—they were based on scepters, giving the collection an unknowing air of royal influence.
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Raf Simons’s second swing at couture for Christian Dior was a critical smash hit. Models exuded a sort of mussy elegance that was both ladylike and loud. Using spring’s blooming optimism as a major influence, Simons paired his natural taste for airy minimalism with silhouettes that were mostly classic Dior (nipped waists, full skirts). Floral embellishments of every kind were smattered onto dresses and tops. But above all, one thing was clear: This was not the Dior of Simons’s predecessor, John Galliano. Though, as Cathy Horyn wrote in The New York Times, that might not be a bad thing. “John Galliano brought deconstruction to Dior. Everything was upside down and pulled apart. It was great, but how many people actually wore the clothes the way he showed them?”
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Elie Saab’s ‘Ode to Delicateness” as he titled his collection, was filled with the whisper-soft pretty impressions that fans have come to expect of the designer. But fashion critics weren’t sold. Style.com’s Nicole Phelps wrote, “Insiders saw shades of other designers in his dresses—floor-skimming capes that called to mind Gwyneth Paltrow’s white Tom Ford…demure necklines and long sleeves evocative of recent Valentino collections.” Regardless, his painstaking beading was out of the park, sometimes so intricate that it formed a full-blown relief-effect on Saab’s more-complicated pieces.
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One could consider Giambattista Valli is the unofficial outfitter of today’s European glitterati, as he constantly bolsters his couture front rows with heiresses from families as great as Missoni and Scarry (as in Richard). Valli’s girls are always ready to snap up his outlook on the season, which this time meant a modern take on the Spanish infanta’s palette of black, white, and gold, also matched with soft blush tones. Etruscan crowns topped off some of Valli’s more-diaphanous looks, all of which felt modern with the pairing of undone hair and an almost sweated-in face of makeup, giving all of his clothes a wearable street-ready kind of vibe.
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Spring 2013 marked Maison Martin Margiela’s first season as beholders of the couture appellation and they celebrated with a procession of perverse flappers and candy-wrapper “fur.” Some beaded pieces were meant to look like black-and-white brushstrokes from afar, and metallic wrappers were hand-sewn onto silk for upwards of 70-hours to create a Nick Cave–worthy version of eco-fur. Lucky for Kanye West, who was seated front row, the collection was also filled with more intricate masks for him to grace audiences in.
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If you can consistently count on Valentino couture for one thing, it’s a boatload of pretty. But rest assured, all of that beauty comes at a hefty price, and an even heftier amount of man hours to create. The house’s spring 2013 couture was filled with a Venetian lattice-work motif, made of crepe piping that took up to 500 hours of labor to produce per look (one of the rollers even reportedly developed carpal-tunnel syndrome in the process). But between the effervescent tulle, hand-beaded ditzy florals, and yardfulls of fine silk, Valentino’s feminine frills seemed well worth the trouble.
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Jean Paul Gaultier is always one to mix it up, which might be why his attempt at Indian inspiration appeared more inclined toward Studio 54 than the Maharaja. Modern applications of sari fabric were among some of his bohemian couture offerings. But the cultural outlook did leave a few feeling uneasy—the show even finished by blaring Slumdog Millionaire’s theme song “Jai Ho!” with a model turning up her hoop skirt to reveal four bindi-wearing small children hiding underneath. “There was something bordering on crass, even vulgar about the presentation,” wrote Style.com’s Tim Blanks.
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