Haute couture looking: the two sides of glamour

The fact that the assessment “changeable” can be used excellently both from a meteorological and a fashion perspective is evident right from the start of the Paris Haute Couture Week. On Monday morning it first storms like a winter day near Büsum, then it rains heavily before suddenly the clouds disappear, the sun shines brightly and the French open the spring season on the terraces of the cafés. Until it starts to rain again.

While passers-by outside switch back and forth between sunglasses and umbrellas, the couture houses’ shows inside are at least as varied. From eccentric but unwearable to beautiful and definitely wearable, everything is there. This becomes particularly clear in two presentations that illustrate the different poles of haute couture, the luxurious tailor-made clothing – Schiaparelli and Dior.

Fashion houses with a long tradition

Both houses look back on a long tradition. In the 1920s, Elsa Schiaparelli opened her couture house and caused a sensation in Paris with extraordinary creations inspired by Dadaism and Surrealism. Today the brand belongs to Diego Della Valle, the owner of the Tod’s shoe brand. Christian Dior also became a topic of conversation in the post-war period. His “New Look”, wearable, feminine fashion, was all the rage from the 1950s onwards. Today the company is one of the best-known and most successful fashion brands in the world and as such is part of the LVMH Group.

You need to know all this when you look at the current collections of the two houses for this summer. At Schiaparelli, Daniel Roseberry doesn’t intend to design fashion that women should wear in everyday life. For him, eccentricity is the new purism. After a few, by his standards, rather simple black looks at the beginning of the show, the models show oversized blousons, patchwork dresses made entirely of crystals and robes with white feathers. What’s special about Roseberry is how she knows how to deconstruct classic elements, such as evening dresses, so that they look like works of art. An evening dress embroidered all over with pearls has a collar that reaches to the model’s forehead. Red carpet style at its finest.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director at Dior, remains on the deep-pile carpet. She takes up the typical silhouettes of company founder Christian Dior, but implements them with lighter materials so that every outfit can be worn by financially strong but little-known customers as well as by the big stars from the front row in the Musée Rodin, by Glenn Close and Rihanna.

Haute couture is rejuvenating

In addition to outfits in beige that were somewhat reminiscent of repurposed trench coats, robes and skirts embroidered with crystals stand out. Yes, you can find it boring and dismiss it as an overly safe path. In contrast to Roseberry, however, Chiuri does not have the classic couture customer in mind – over 70, wealthy married or widowed – she is thinking of a younger clientele who buys gowns themselves, often as expensive as a mid-range car, to wear at work or to wear in everyday life. Many women in the USA or Asia have rediscovered haute couture. What seemed outdated just a few years ago, such as the sexy velvet curtains in a Loire castle, is experiencing a new enthusiasm, a revival.

The shows on the first day underline this – and make you curious about what is to come in the next few days. The weather has now decided, at least for the moment: the sun will shine non-stop from the afternoon onwards. No more umbrellas, anywhere.