The fashion world is officially in the middle of the most hectic and stressful month in the fashion industry: the Fashion Month. It’s that time of the year again when designers sprinkle their fantasy and imagination on the runway, when bloggers carrying dozens of suitcases travel the world in fancy private jets, but most importantly, it’s that time of the year when most of us mademoiselles would rather have a Valentino instead of a valentine.
New York, London and Milan are one of the top destinations when it comes to fashion shows but let’s talk about the most beautiful one of them all, Paris – where magic is happening on the runways in this exact moment, featuring the one and only Haute Couture. The Paris Couture Week (2018-01-22 – 2018-01-25) is now revealing its Spring/Summer 2018 collections from brands like Chanel, Schiaparelli, Maison Margiela, Christian Dior, Giambattista Valli and Valentino, just to name a few. Haute Couture has been a much-misused phrase along the years but it actually has very specific rules for qualification. Translated literally, Haute Couture is French for “high dressmaking” and is high-end fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish and is made from high quality, expensive fabric. The name is French, the rules are French, but you’d be surprised to hear that the term is first linked to the English couturier Charles Frederick Worth, who brought into existence the first haute couture house back in 1858, in no other place but Paris – which has since kept its privileged place among the “Big Four” fashion capitals of the world.
From 1858 to our days, Haute Couture has come a long way and has been making history: starting with Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ collection (1947) – which revived France’s fashion industry from wartime austerity – to the first ever couture boutique established by the one and only Yves Saint Laurent (1966); from 2013 when Rad Hourani debuted the first ever unisex couture collection, to 2017 when the guardians of high fashion opened their arms to a growing number of designers and introduced ready-to-wear collections. Couturiers and historic maisons seem therefore to be one step ahead of the rest of the fashion industry and I am sure you (as myself) can’t wait to see what’s in there for us this season. Please take your front-row seat and enjoy jaw-dropping gowns, brides wearing pants and surrealist glamour.
