by Four days of haute couture shows certainly provide an escape. This is when one dress can take months and cost the same or more than a house in remote France. If you have to ask for the price, you definitely won’t be able to afford it.
That said, it’s hard to say how much business is done on the full price. Some clients will try to buy the samples and some shows seem like an unusual offer to dress actors on the red carpet (a type of advertising for which brands pay a large fee as well as provide clothes for free).
Until now, so escapist. But there are also style tips that can help us all refresh and rethink the way we wear our clothes, from everyday to special occasions. Here are five of the strongest from the past week…
1. Be adventurous with color
Under its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, the Valentino couture show is often a couture highlight. This collection was no different. Why? Because Piccioli is so inventive with color, he creates combinations you probably haven’t seen before that make simple, classic shapes look fresh.
Colors that can seem too saccharine on their own can become interesting and modern. A pale bubblegum pink skirt with an olive tunic jacket for example; a blue peacoat with a purple cashmere sweater and custard yellow skirts; gray dove with dandelion; a classic bottle green full skirt with a neon yellow top and an oversized eau de nil blazer. In real life, a little bit of this goes a long way – a slightly off-kilter one or an electric shade worn with an otherwise neutral outfit will probably do it.
2. Don’t even think about fur
If you’re looking for the texture and structure of something fur, if you don’t mind being a social pariah, or if you’re happy to keep saying it’s vintage over and over again, the real thing can’t be beat accept.
Given all the question marks over the polluting petrochemicals that go into faux fur, designers are moving away from that too. Instead, at Alaia, which is getting a new lease of energy under Belgian creative director Peter Muller (he was Raf Simons’ right-hand man when he was second at Dior), he used merino yarn alone to make the type of coats Create massive shoulder sweeps. that wouldn’t look out of place in a Helmut Newton photo.
Alaia fans will be pleased to know that Richemont, who owns it, appears to be investing: a new store is set to open on a prominent corner of the swanky Faubourg Saint-Honore, and Muller has ambitions. Rather than raiding the archives, he’s thinking about what the modern Alaia customer likes. She still wants to slink, bodycon, dagger heels and make an impact that does not look directly without effort, but the fabrications are fresh and arresting.
Also at Valentino, textured wool replaced fur and for evening, a shiny, curly boa. Odd but effective. The status symbols are changing.
3. Apply a fresh spring coat
Valentino wool coats also came in all colors and cuts. From neat felt blazers and boxy jackets, to a standout little orange duffle coat, any spring outerwear wardrobe could be given new life with an update like this.
4. Try the new statement earrings
Of course, chandelier drop earrings have been sidelined for now by more interesting groups up the lobe. On the scene, as well as high jewelery presentations that run concurrently with the shows in Paris during couture week, the emphasis is on round, sculptural earrings that sit unusually on the ear, dangling just below the lobe or curling around it. Chokers are also back.
5. Kitten heels can be interesting
Toteme, the Scandinavian cult label, is the one to watch the most. Style cognoscenti already love it because while it’s reminiscent of The Row (and on average a third of the price), it also has its own attitude. The blanket-stitch coats and jackets you saw a lot last year were from Toteme, or copies… With a new flagship store going big in London’s Mayfair and others opening in the US, it was this is when the label was first. on the catwalk in Paris.
Dare to do it during couture week when it’s a ready-to-wear house, but Toteme is very much in the business of elevating touches (super photographer Steven Meisel shoots its campaigns) and the two founders are very familiar with the data included. . Case in point: those wedged kitten heel sling backs they featured with many of the monochrome outfits in this show. A walkable statement shoe – unusual.
