With Fashion Week London just on the conner the Couture Fashion Week has just wrapped up in Paris, marking one of the most exciting moments on the fashion calendar that we’ve experienced in a long while.
I have made a selection of my favourite SS Couture ’22
“That’s what my vision for Fendi is all about, celebrating the power of women,” Jones said of the glitzy collection in his show notes. Scroll down to see some of the show highlights, including the impossibly beautiful hand-painted evening gowns.
Fendi
Jean Paul Gaultier
As part of Jean Paul Gaultier’s new approach to couture, in which the house teams up with a new designer each season, SS22 saw Glenn Martens take on the task of interpreting the legacy of the brand, following on from Sacai’s Chitose Abe, who presented in July last year.
Elie Saab
If you’re into intricate and breathtaking gowns fit for the Oscars’ red carpet, then Elie Saab’s latest collection will be one of your favourites. This season, the Lebanese designer returned to the catwalk after two years off (a result not just of Covid, but of his atelier being badly damaged in the devastating explosion Beirut in 2020), and with his return, he brought plenty of colour and hope.
“I felt my clients are looking for release, they want things that are flashy, with colours, lively things — I see that this period has affected a lot of people,” Saab said.
Valentino
‘The Anatomy of Couture’ was the title of Valentino’s spring/summer 2022 collection.
“Soft and welcoming in the democratic spirit, and at the same time radical in the approach that rewrites known processes, Piccioli builds the collection as a composite harmony of physical types and the clothes that dress them, studied through a long process, both scientific and poetic. The message does not change in its purpose, which is to convey beauty, but in the welcoming expression.”
Alexandre Vauthier
There was the usual injection of high-octane glamour into Alexandre Vauthier’s SS22 couture collection, in which he presented velvet power suits, sequin gowns and plenty of slinky frocks. “I was really contemplative during the last 24 months. I looked at history and after a heavy moment like this there is an explosion of energy,” he told WWD of the inspiration.
Chanel
“The idea for the show’s décor came from a longstanding desire to work with Xavier Veilhan,” Virginie Viard explained of the setting of the SS22 couture show. “His references to constructivism remind me of those of Karl Lagerfeld.
Dior
This season’s Dior couture collection was a celebration of embroidery: “A symbol of the atelier’s original excellence, embroidery is not just a decorative detail. It gives fabric its structure, its architecture.”
Source Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar.
