Journalism of Courage
Female empowerment, controversies about race, and designs that plunged to the depths of the seas then climbed Mount Olympus were among themes to grace Paris Couture Week. The Haute couture show, that started January 20, will end on January 23. The fashion extravaganza started with a powerpacked show by Maria Grazia Chiuri's feminist statement at Dior, Iris Van Herpen's unique world of visual poetry and much more. Here are some highlights of spring-summer 2020 couture shows. Dior's first ever female designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, accepted applause after showcasing the Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection. Her feminist logo-emblazoned T-shirts have famously been among the house's biggest sellers — and so she went back on the girl power charge to capitalize on this popular unique selling point in the Rodin Museum collection. (Source: AP)
The starting idea was a question posed by the artist and set-designer Judy Chicago, blown up as text at the show: “What if Women Ruled the World?” (Source: AP)
The Hellenistic sculpture “The Winged Victory of Samothrace," that stands in the Louvre, provided inspiration for long billowing silk skirts and rope-like straps that pulled tightly around the busts and waists of several looks. (Source: AP)
Athena, the ancient warrior-goddess, was evoked in a tightly-strapped gold bodice and sections of gold fringing. (Source: AP)
Daniel Roseberry seems to have the winning formula at Schiaparelli: Less is more. (Source: AP)
The Texas-born designer managed to include all the Surrealist references of the late, great couturier Elsa Schiaparelli, without them straying into the kitsch or the overpowering — as has been the case in the past. He used them sparingly, carefully giving each bold object the necessary space to breathe. (Source: AP)
A large gold earring resembling a human ear, for instance, was placed above a bare chest and dark tuxedo. Not only did that allow the statement earring to be the sole dominant feature, Roseberry very cleverly re-enforced the idea of the human body being — literally — on display. (Source: AP)
A model wears a creation for Iris van Herpen Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection presented in Paris. (Source: AP)
Floating jelly fish and skeletal underwater crustaceans are often evoked visually in the designer's award-winning couture, but rarely referenced by the house as inspiration. (Source: AP)
This season, it acknowledged that spring-summer's designs channeled “the sensory processes that occur between the intricate composition of the human body, mirrored with the fibrous marine ecology of our oceans.” (Source: AP)
Model Bella Hadid wears a creation for Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection presented January 21, in Paris. (Source: AP)
A model wears a creation for the Armani Prive Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection. (Source: AP Photo)
The iconic Place Vendome square was the enviable location for Italian design legend Giorgio Armani's latest display. (Source: AP)
Statement colour — sometimes overly bold — also defined the spring aesthetic. But the exhaustive show held no surprises. (Source: AP)
Musicians were suspended mid-air while seated on chairs attached to stone columns for Givenchy's historic Left Bank show venue. (Source: AP)
They played dramatic classical music to accompany spring's equally dramatic couture an accomplished series of varied designs that made it seem as if designer Clare Waight Keller can't put a foot wrong. Model Kaia Gerber wears a creation for the Givenchy Haute. (Source: AP)
The clothes spoke for themselves, without the need for cultural references, through deft plays of proportion.
Vividly colored silk ruffles didn't just appear as details on gowns, but Keller used them to construct the structure and silhouette of trapeze-shaped garments that teemed like dense, oversize petals.
A humble stone fountain, overgrown shrubs and flowers, and white sheets drying on a line met curious guests at the Chanel show inside the Grand Palais. Model Gigi Hadid walked for the Chanel Haute Couture.
The theme made for a more haunting collection than normal — a mood emphasized by loud, spooky music and models that slowly crisscrossed the courtyard like they were in a trance. (Source: AP) (With inputs from AP)
