The fact that the big Oscar nominations announcement happened in the middle of the Paris haute couture shows was a serendipitous, albeit serendipitous one. After all, ever since the actors’ strike ended, red carpets have been nothing short of an explosion of pent-up fashion fantasies. What better place to buy it than haute couture?
So celebs (and their stylists) are back in town, gawking at the front row seats of brands they’re in a relationship with, want to be in a relationship with, or are trying to seduce into a relationship with. It’s no wonder there are.
Here Zendaya and creative director Law Roach were spotted looking at interplanetary Western wear at Schiaparelli in a gown with a train that swung like a horse’s tail off the runway. Jennifer Lopez flashed a glimpse of the brand’s curvaceous crystal dress, which featured a face-framing paparazzi shield on one side.
This is Rihanna entering Dior. She was swarmed by so many paparazzi that she was invisible – at least until she stopped in front of Vogue’s Anna Wintour to pay her respects and then admire her mid-century inspired moiré. teeth. And then there was Gwyneth Paltrow in Armani Prive. There, the previous haute couture collection celebrating the rose had already provided many award entrance moments. How can we top that? Increasingly sparkling lace, organdy and crystal netting seem to perfectly complement the dance of the sugar-coated chinoiserie plum mermaids (her and her bride’s mother).
Chanel’s Virginie Viard dresses Margaret Qualley, one of the brand’s ambassadors, in a 1980s ballerina-inspired show in a Jordan-almond-toned bouclé, leotard, white tights, and sprinklings of tulle beneath giant monogram buttons. No wonder I asked for the opening. Qualley has next month’s Grammy Awards on her calendar with her musician husband, Jack Antonoff. Now she has something to wear!
Still, even off the red carpet, haute couture is having its cinematic moments.
Art imitating life Imitating life
Coincidentally, Glenn Close and Juliette Binoche were also frau hopping during the show, as they are among the stars of the limited series “The New Look,” which debuts on Apple TV+ in February. The story of the rebirth of haute couture after World War II, seen through the prism of Dior and Chanel, starring Mr. Binoche as Coco Chanel and Mr. Close as Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow.
And “Cristobal Balenciaga,” a biopic of the Spanish designer often called the greatest couturier, focusing on his contemporaries and including cameos from Dior and Chanel, will be available on Disney+ just before the show begins. It aired (at least in Europe and the US) and we’re still waiting for a release date).
Both series focus on the idea of haute couture as a counterattack against the horrors and deprivations of war. Humanity’s clarion call. Given what’s going on in the world, it’s understandable why filmmakers, and the designers who love them, think it’s a good time to revisit this particular era. In any case, it’s all starting to look like art imitating life, life imitating.
It’s not just a celebration. The days of fancy sweats and elastic waists seem to be over (thankfully). Dressing, real dressing, is on the rise as it was in the post-war era, when it was synonymous with self-respect.
At Dior, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said she drew inspiration from Monsieur Dior’s 1952 dress known as La Cigale and the counterintuitive juxtaposition of the internal structure imposed on the rippling moiré. This elevated the Trench coat and dress series to a special status of their own, with dressmaker details such as cowl necklines, shawl collars, and blouson sleeves, as well as jeweled embroidery. Well, we are now in a predicament. Raise the button and lower the buckle.
For background, Ms. Chiuri commissioned 94-year-old artist Isabella Duclos to create a series of giant murals featuring clothing completely stretched out of proportion. Speaking before the show, Chiuri said this seemed like a pretty accurate summary of the current moment and its increasingly extreme tendencies. Perhaps in response, she took on small jobs. She pleated white silk columns to create extremely intricate geometric patterns that could only be done by hand. Tighten the slippery gold velvet neckline. Avoid corsets due to the structure created by seams.
Mr. Chiuri can perfectly dress up as a prisoner of war. Her moiré ball gown even has “Oscar” written on it, but it’s not as interesting as her more intimate explorations. Commentators often complain on social media that her work doesn’t look like haute couture because the technique is hard to read on a small screen. But in the words of Gloria Steinem, this is what haute couture is like. That’s one of the ways the real world seeps into her.
Beyond celebrity
Either way, Viard’s decision to go with shiny white tights at Chanel makes more sense than the current trend of cropped tops and pantless outfits. Tights accompany leotards and are often combined with a scrim of see-through chiffon “skirts” or “pants” under classic pastel tweed jackets, all including peek-a-boo his lace jumpsuits. Appeared on Look. Sure, they’re the stuff of very TikTok moments, but it may be even shorter than a bride’s wedding dress, which resembles a wedding tunic.
At least at Schiaparelli, thoughts about modern technology led Daniel Rosebery down a more ambitious path. It also included news about AI from the United States. His own Texas roots, as well as those of Elsa Schiaparelli (she also appears in the Balenciaga series). And the fact that her uncle Giovanni Schiaparelli was the director of the Brera Observatory in Milan and discovered the ocean trenches on Mars.
That reminded Mr. Rosebery (not surprisingly) of the 1979 film “Alien” and its sequels — he said during a screening that he’s seen all of them at least six times. And that led to a somewhat chaotic mash-up of the surreal, Martians, and cowboys.
The jacket had a bandana print, dangling floor-sweeping fringe, and an armor-sized buckle. Decorative knots bristled from the oversized sleeves. One cocktail dress was made by upcycling hundreds of pieces of his pre-2007 technology (motherboards, computer chips, flip phones), which had been disenchanted within an inch of his death. So did a toddler-sized doll held by a model wearing white cargo pants and a tank top.
Mr. Roseberry has become a celebrity thanks to his ability to master social media moments (namely, that doll), but it’s his simple clothes that cut through the noise. A strapless black velvet bombshell gown trimmed with nude jersey drapes. He wears high-waisted black pants under a plain white button-up, shoulders in a power pose, and a sword-pointed pencil pins his collar. Or points.
A piece that goes beyond the red carpet and directly expresses the current situation. Greta Gerwig, who was controversially removed from the Academy Award for Best Director despite numerous other nominations for Barbie, can now wield her award with dignity. Dew.
