PARIS HAUTE COUTURE 2022 COVERAGE

We all have been waiting for Paris Haute Couture 2022 eagerly. And like every season it did not disappoint me. The collections were marvelous. New silhouettes, artistic shapes, heavy jewels and heavenly fabrics were the highlights of this week. This season was filled with metallic vibe.

The Dutch designer's futuristic collection brought heaven on stage. It was a mix of metaverse and the expressive, out-of-this-world collection with outfits that virtual fashion can afford. Iris has been using 3D designs from past two decades. All of the 3D prints that we’re doing are digitally designed first, so all those looks are basically already ready for the metaverse,” she explained at a preview. “Couture is where my heart is. For me, technology is a tool that makes it possible to bring the craftsmanship forward.” Van Herpen’s intricately constructed pieces, many of which blend hand-executed couture techniques with 3D printed panels and innovative sustainable materials, were mind-blowing. The opening look, for instance, comprised a biodegradable fabric made of banana leaf blended with raw silk which formed the sinuous Grecian draping. Upcycled organza, plant based fabrics made this 16 pieces marvelous collection a perfect sustainable futuristic wearable fashion. It looked like the collection came out straight from the imagination.

Dior was less "Dior" this season. We saw something new from the regular collections. She used an element of Ukrainian folklore, the Tree of Life, as an emblematic theme. Depicting the life circle of different cultures. The collection was compiled of feminine, well constructed pieces. Elegance and Romance were the key factors. There was a sense of gentleness and reserve in the colors of white and pale beige this season. Long silhouettes, variously rendered as big-sleeved blouses, corsets, tiny jackets and capes. But the main focus was in the intricate surfaces, particular in the way floral lace patchworks, 3-D beaded embroidery. Heavy poplin silhouettes gave this collection an elegant royal feminine touch with strong structures.

There is not a single time when Zuhair Murad disappoints a fashion enthusiast. Like every season he came up with fresh and marvelous collection. This season's highlight was his colorful pieces. The dreamy collection was full with fun, romance and drama. The key highlights of 52 pieces were beaded embellishments, flirty cuts and shapes. The theme of this collection was Galaxy and Zodiac. I was highly impressed with starry motifs, shining sunny embroideries. Zuhair Murad brought the universe on stage with this collection. Where mesh, organza and chiffons gave the feminine look; the colorful embroideries gave it a dramatic look. I do not recall any collection which has so many factors. There were furs, frills, pleats, embellishments, flowy shapes, sharp cuts & edges, almost all the colors and yet the designer managed to compile everything beautifully.

?This effortless collection had powerful new silhouette on practically every look. The collection was a classic Chanel with painterly tweeds, lace painted in resin; a shower of embroidered leaves on a white tulle trapeze dress, shadowing a print of the same motif underneath. An all-over deco print on a bell-skirted coat dress that on closer inspection turned out have been entirely beaded in sequins by Lesage; or tufts of ostrich plumes painstakingly applied to black chiffon and glimpsed through the openings in a streamlined trench coat of textured black tweed. This season we saw some exceptional colored tweeds, black and gold metallic embellishments and beautiful floral jacquards.

Giambattista Valli did not return with black and white this season. “I think the most powerful lesson of the last couple of years was really to enjoy the moment, live in the moment,” he mused backstage an hour before he sent out 59 extravagant looks. He called the collection ‘L’Instant’ and smothered the set with party balloons. Valli most certainly knows how to entice a girl have a good time. The opening all-white looks—“simple” in his mind—were a glorious parade of ostrich and crystal-trimmed dresses, accessorized with fabulously oversized mirrored butterfly sunglasses and giant glittery chandelier earrings. By about look 37, Valli had given himself over to the expansive, voluminous, single-punchy-color side of his nature. He is an amazing colorist. At some point, when the ruffles had become as dense as humanly possible, it looked as if the girls were carrying entire, neatly clipped hedges and lawns as trains. His joyful collection lit up the Paris runway. I loved the crystal chains, White, gold and silver mixed embellishments compiled with furs and frills. The flowers, organza and colorful pieces made this collection feminine and joyful.

This collection depicted the modern, sensual and strong women. The whole collection was made with minimal colors. Yet the magnificent pieces carried heavy jewels, big bold details. The collection was a combination of nature, future and power. The structured silhouettes with floral and embellished details made it perfect for a 21st century woman. There were subtle homages to Elsa Schiaparelli’s own Surrealist inspiration. was , like the neckline of a black velvet jacket cut into a face’s profile à la Cocteau and the crusted Lesage embroideries that she reveled in. A simple black velvet evening dress that looked like one of Roseberry’s dramatic fashion sketches come to life was brought into Schiap’s madcap world thanks to a pair of earrings dripping bunches of golden grapes and so heavy that they had to be secured with a discreet tiara hair band. Hopeful doves of peace brought the collection into 2022. Magnificent wide-brimmed hats bristled with what looked like fields of wheat that on close inspection turned out to have been simulated with glycerinated ostrich feathers. It was a “mash-up between something that felt incredibly modern and then also wildly romantic.”

Elie Saab has launched a men’s couture line for this season. Presented at show, it rivaled in opulence his women’s, and boasts the sumptuous embellishments and embroidered intricacies that are Saab’s signature. The sense of drama and the go?t for the spectacular agree with Saab, and there was no lack of either in both lines. The first two looks were equally majestic, both intricately carpeted with multicolored plumage intarsia on black velvet. For her, a sweeping floor-length ball gown with criss-crossed ribbons on the bodice; for him, a regal cape embroidered in a mosaic of wispy feathers, worn over a tailored black velvet tux. If you want to make a jaw-dropping entrance, Saab is definitely your go-to guy. A theme of flame red and black kept the first part of the collection on a high-drama note. Black mesh see-through gowns were heavily embroidered with serpentine curlicues, which were repeated on the men’s generous caftans, while shapely sculptural column dresses in deep red taffeta had cloud-like sleeves poufed up to the ears. Then Saab took a turn for the dreamy, but without letting the pyrotechnics out of the picture. “I was thinking about how the light turns magical, into pink gold at dusk, after the sunset and before the evening,” he mused. A parade of powder pink and nude mesh tulle numbers followed. Variously shaped but all equally glamorous, they were bathed in shimmering sequins in every possible dimension, together with beaded fringes, embroidered tassels, drippings of crystals, and appliqués of organza petals. Offered in pink and gold hued brocade, masculine suits with cropped tuxedos were wrapped in trailing stoles encrusted with lace. Billowy capes in hammered silk were worn over matching slim trousers, and paired with bohemian black poet shirts. Peacocks will have to prove their worth, if they want to show off their plumage in Saab’s unabashedly sumptuous attires.