Balletcore and vamps at Paris couture week
PARIS
Haute couture week in Paris showcases the fashion world's most elite outfits - one-off, made-to-measure creations that the labels hope will adorn red carpets and high society events around the world.
As Paris Couture Week drew to a close, Fendi offered a hypnotic blend of minimalist futurism and homage to the legendary Karl Lagerfeld.
Zendaya and Reese Witherspoon were among luminaries who caused snaking traffic and hyperbolic tussles to witness artistic director Kim Jones deliver what was a memorable collection with frothing, organic fringing inside the gilded venue of the Palais Brongniart. It not only revered the past but embraced a forward-thinking ethos.
In the third day of the week, Jennifer Lopez ensured that the power of runway designs was matched by the power of a VIP audience. The singer and actress energized the Palais de Tokyo, arriving at the last minute for Elie Saab's show amid pandemonium. She and other fashion insiders witnessed a silken display of the Lebanese designer’s work evoking the complexity of North African medinas
Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren again defied convention, presenting a concoction that blended the historic with a deconstructed edge. They literally cut up couture garments.
Ballet is hot right now. Andie MacDowell's daughter, actress Margaret Qualley, in a neck ruff and white tights, was the catwalk star as Chanel marked 100 years since founder Gabrielle Chanel first dressed the Russian Ballet in Paris.
It came just a few days after Dior paid homage to ballet icon Rudolf Nureyev during the menswear week, and Chanel offered the ultra-chi-chi women's version, with lots of tutu skirts, translucent whites, leotards and dance pumps.
France's Stephane Rolland recreated the atmosphere of a Marrakesh garden, with women dressed like Middle Eastern princesses in beige, gold and blue, set against a background of desert dunes and a soundtrack by trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf.
Rolland told AFP he was thinking about the collection before the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October and had decided to stick with it in order to promote "tolerance and positivity".
Giorgio Armani plucked ideas from all over the world to take an audience including Gwyneth Paltrow and Glenn Close on an "imagined journey from West to East" that included decorative peacock motifs and kimono-style gowns.
Rahul Mishra latest evocation of his native India was inspired by insects, with huge glittering moths and bees adorning some outfits, and several turbans and maharajah outfits in the collection.
One of the most spectacular shows came from Julien Fournie, who sought to recreate the atmosphere of fashion's heyday, packing out a Paris theatre for a tribute to vamps and femmes fatales.