No longer an oxymoron: Wearable couture dominates Paris runways

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Paris Couture Week went ahead despite a backdrop of violence and unrest in France, as protests that broke out in response to the police killing of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk calmed down throughout the week. Only Celine cancelled its Sunday show, while Balenciaga called off its after party on Wednesday that was slated to include a performance from Grace Jones.

On the runways, brands put forward a more wearable take on couture – perhaps in line with the quiet luxury trend dominating fashion with understated pieces. There were a total of 32 couture shows this season over four full days, from 3 to 6 July. As usual, there were the haute couture members (those who own an atelier in Paris and satisfy other strict criteria) including Chanel, Dior, Giambattista Valli and Schiaparelli; the corresponding members not based in Paris, including Giorgio Armani Privé, Fendi and Valentino; and guest members, including two newcomers (American designer Thom Browne and Saudi label Ashi). Charles de Vilmorin also returned as a guest member. Browne, who is CFDA chairman, showed for the first time during couture week to kick off the label’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

“It was a successful week with a great diversity of creation and know-how of the ateliers,” says Pascal Morand, executive president of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. “Couture has a wide array of clients. Overall, couture is faring well. There’s an increasing demand for personalisation and couture is the ultimate personalisation.”

Bernstein senior luxury goods analyst Luca Solca confirms that the couture market is “doing very well overall, supported by high end clients, at least for the big brands”.

At Dior, artistic director of women’s collections Maria Grazia Chiuri was inspired by the shapes of antiquity (the tunic, the peplum, the cape, the stole) and she brought modernity to them. “The simplicity is apparent,” she said on the eve of the show during fittings, adding that inspiration came from Christian Dior. (During a conference at La Sorbonne in 1955, the couturier said that his dresses, like garments from antiquity, had a quest for “apparent simplicity”.) Chiuri’s couture included stretch fabric and a levity not often associated with the craft. “There’s the idea of couture that is more with the construction – the corset that makes beautiful shapes but is not the print of your body and each body is different,” she says. Her couture, meanwhile, fits on the body almost like a second skin.

Chanel, which presented its collection on the banks of the Seine, also staged a pared-back show. “The street and the colourful paving stones call for both sophistication and simplicity,” said the house’s artistic director Virginie Viard in the show notes. It was a portrait of the Parisienne, with her “nonchalance and elegance”. Caroline de Maigret opened the show in a masculine overcoat, one model walked the runway with a dog, another with a fruit basket.

At Balenciaga, structured silhouettes combined with more casual attire not often displayed on the couture runway, including a pair of denim jeans. The collection, Demna’s third couture showing for the house, included a lace dress “that keeps the shape, with a whole structure inside”, the Balenciaga creative director told editors backstage after the show. There was also a dress worn by Eva Herzigová made of thousands of crystals, with no pattern. “It’s made as a bijou, as a jewellery piece,” Demna said.

There was also a long passage of menswear within the collection that included trompe l’oeil silhouettes. “There were less evening and more casual kinds of looks,” Demna said. “Casual – but it takes two and a half months to make this pair of jeans, very complex to make. That’s also what I like about couture. It shouldn’t always be in your face. It’s a big part of who I am and it’s a big part of who Cristóbal Balenciaga was.”

At Jean Paul Gaultier, guest designer Julien Dossena also referenced the street. The soundtrack was city noise. “It’s like a stroll through the city. Of course it’s a fantasy street because it’s couture and there’s a very high level of sophistication,” he said backstage. Dossena was inspired by Jean Paul Gaultier’s approach to fashion: “His creations are based on what he observes around him, the reality but at the same time with a great poetry,” he said. He added that working with the couture atelier has been like being “a kid in a candy shop”.

The show had 450 guests, roughly one-third of them being clients. “We have a policy for couture: we sell only one piece per region for exclusivity reasons. With the Haider Ackermann for Jean Paul Gaultier collection, we had a lot of demand and it was a challenge [to stick to our policy],” says Antoine Gagey, general manager of Jean Paul Gaultier. On the wearability of couture, the executive says: “Our approach to couture is rather bold with our collaborations, but designers want their pieces to be worn by clients and celebrities and not stay in a closet.”

The shows were a draw for A-listers. As the protests began to subside, celebrities flocked to Paris en masse for couture, including Hollywood stars Natalie Portman at Dior, Lupita Nyong’o at Chanel, Diane Keaton at Thom Browne, Sydney Sweeney at Giorgio Armani Privé, and Naomi Watts at Fendi, and rapper Cardi B at Balenciaga, Naomi Watts at Fendi.

Jordan Roth, a theatre producer and self-proclaimed “couture devotee”, walked the Thom Browne show in The White Pigeon look, which was anything but simplistic. “Thom creates his all encompassing worlds, invites us into them,” he says. “Different artists are giving us different ways into couture. Some are easier on the body, some are more complex constructions. What they have in common is the craftsmanship, the singular artistry and the commitment to materials that really distinguishes what couture is.” Did he find the couture collections this season more wearable overall? “I have always found [couture] wearable!”

Sidney Toledano, president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, says: “I am impressed by the quality of the execution everywhere. We have the combination of innovation, creation and execution. Couture is the moment to give momentum to the designers, to give energy. Paris has delivered.”