Paris’ Haute Couture Week Online got underway this morning with a powerful message from Naomi Campbell.
Highlights from the three day digital incarnation of the shows include Schiaparelli and Christian Dior on Monday, Chanel and Alexandre Vauthier on Tuesday and Maison Margiela and Viktor & Rolf on Wednesday.
However, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing gave us a little ‘avant premier’ last night with his democratic and socially distanced fashion show on a barge sailing the length of the River Seine.
Livestreamed on Tiktok, the artistic director said it was conceived both to celebrate the end of France’s COVID-19 lockdown and as an artistic response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Both Balmain and Campbell certainly set the tone for the ensuing ‘shows’ which are sure to address the issues currently shaking up our society.
Day 3
Viktor & Rolf
July 8, 2020: Dutch designer duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren created the most inspired spoof film to showcase their collection, tapping MIKA to do the voiceover in the style of an old fashioned British newscaster. Quilted dressing gown style ball dresses were a nod to out time spent at home in lockdown while emoji detailing referenced its ups and downs played out via the lens of Instagram. No slippers to be seen though. The film It is directed by Marijke Aerden. Scroll down to watch. With gallows humor in spades, it’s completely hilarious.
Roger Vivier
July 8, 2020: Just like the regular physical haute couture week, this online version also takes in virtual ‘happenings’ between the ‘shows.’ Roger Vivier’s Gherardo Felloni appeared in a short film where he discussed the 12 piece haute couture capsule of dramatic Belle Vivier cuissarde boots which was a highlight of his fall ’20 presentation. They were inspired by the originals that the house founder created for Brigette Bardot in 1967 which she wore with a mini skirt for a Harley Davidson video. “That started the trend,” he said. “It was pretty revolutionary.” His own favorite from the capsule? The feathered versions of course. Created in three colors, yellow pink and blue, he loves the way they move on a woman’s body.
Maison Margiela
July 8, 2020: John Galliano is showcasing his artisanal coed fall ’20 collection for Maison Margiela in three parts. Watch the first video here. It doesn’t give much away. More to follow on July 11. According to the brand, a final reveal is scheduled for July 16.
Julie de Libran
July 8, 2020: Julie de Libran designer was ahead of the curve when she created her seasonless line last year. For Haute Couture Week Online, she created a film with Frédéric Sanchez showing the making of the collection and footage from her last presentation in January. She explained via a voice-over how her line is made from end of roll fabrics from family run mills in Italy and Switzerland and fabricated by hand in ateliers in Paris. She doesn’t do shoes herself but she collaborates with Manolo Blahnik for her presentations. The film gives a real insight into her process and collaborators. Watch in below.
Valentino
July 8, 2020: Another teaser. Valentino used its Haute Couture Online slot as a trailer for ‘Of Grace and Light’, the fall ’21 live event it will stage in Rome on July 21. The (very) short video it released purported to reveal the inspiration behind the collection. It didn’t. Or if it did, it was a very cryptic allusion indeed. But it was still very pretty. Watch it below.
Day 2
Alexandre Vauthier
July 7, 2020: The lookbook images for Alexandre Vauthier collections were shot on both sides of the Atlantic — half in Paris by Karim Sadli and half upstate of New York, in the Hamptons, by Inez & Vinoodh. Backdrops were both domestic and outdoors on quiet streets or deserted beaches. Amina Muaddi always creates the designer’s footwear and this season a satin ruched bootie, tied loosely at the ankle was the shoe star of this show. According to the notes, social distancing was observed throughout.
Chanel
July 7, 2020: “I was thinking about a punk princess coming out of ‘Le Palace’ at dawn. With a taffeta dress, big hair, feathers and lots of jewellery. This collection is more inspired by Karl Lagerfeld than Gabrielle Chanel. Karl would go to ‘Le Palace’, he would accompany these very sophisticated and very dressed up women, who were very eccentric too.” said Chanel artistic director Virginie Viard of her fall ’20 couture collection. It was unveiled today via a short jumpy film by by Mikael Jansson. The naive 70’s camcorder style footage contrasted with the savoir faire of the couture.
Click here to watch the show and read the full story.
Pierre Hardy
July 7, 2020: Just like the regular physical haute couture week, this online version also takes in virtual ‘happenings’ between the ‘shows.’ In advance of his digital men’s and women’s presentation — happening next week via a password controlled Instagram account — Pierre Hardy offered his thoughts on this digital version of Paris Haute Couture week via a short film posted on the week’s virtual hub. He said that while he had initially feared that we would lose the “sensory thrill” of seeing things in person, frustration gave way to innovation and “forced us to consider other multi-channel options.” He still maintains, however, that digital technology cannot replace the real thing.
Day 1
Naomi Campbell Got the Show on the Road With This Powerful Message About Equality
July 6, 2020: She opened Paris Men’s Fashion Week in January IRL (in real life) when she walked in Kenneth Ize’s Paris runway debut. However, this time around, supermodel Naomi Campbell got Paris Couture Week Online started via a video message
Wearing a sleeveless T-shirt emblazoned with the legend ‘phenomenally black’, she delivered this powerful statement about equality and diversity:
“The fight for equality and for diversity has been a long journey in society and in the fashion industry. Today in 2020 we have a long way to go and the time has come to collectively call the fashion world to task regarding inequality in our workplaces and our industry.”
“Nelson Mandela said ‘action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely daydreaming but vision with action can change the world’. A powerful sense of urgency has been spoken out aloud around the world with the Black Lives Matter movement.”
“Paris home of the revolution is fashion’s central stage and it’s leader. This is a call for action that we are making and we hope that this a conversation that is starting now and will last as long as it is needed. It is up to us, it is up to you to start enforcing inclusivity of the multitude of identities that compose our countries.”
“The time has come to build a more equitable industry with a good form of checks and balances. It is now more than ever compulsory to include in a permanent way, not a transient one it is time to to have regular and sustainable conversations with minorities in countries and cultures who are already invisible actors of this mega industry.”
“It starts now in France.”
“I am Naomi Campbell and I declare Paris Couture Fashion Week ‘ouvert'” (that means open in French)
“Merci” (thank you).
Schiaparelli
July 6, 2020: First brand of the day to ‘show’ was Schiaparelli. The presentation involved a film featuring creative director Daniel Rosebery sketching outfits while he was on lockdown in New York and drew on the look and feel of the city with sharp pantsuits and canine companions aplenty.
“My own experience was shared with millions of other Manhattanites,” he said. “What was extraordinary was the ability to walk into Washington Square Park on a Monday morning and sketch out a Haute Couture collection.” These sketches are a precursor to the Haute Couture capsule that will be revealed in December in Los Angeles.
Although apparel has not yet been produced, as of today, a curated selection of jewelry and accessories are available to buy via the Instagram shopping feature on the @Schiaparelli account. According to the house, the idea is to speak to its audience “in more immediate ways.”
This is a real first, both for the house and also for the rarified world of couture. Said ‘drops’ will be announced on an ad hoc basis and will not adhere to the seasonal fashion calendar.
Christian Dior
The theme for the Dior Couture presentation was totally unexpected and today, in cyberspace, Maria Grazia Chiuri sent us a real curveball with her concept.
The house creative director is well known for addressing the burning issues of the day — most recently those surrounding consent and female equality — with the staging of her shows. However, for fall ’20 she offered us a Surrealist dreamworld instead. Chiuri presented her collection via a short fantasy film directed by Matteo Garrone.
Click here to watch the film and read the full story
Giambattista Valli
Dedicated to the City of Light and the craftsmanship of the couture atelier, Giambattista Valli’s presentation film had all the right ingredients. The designer’s signature volumes and multilayers of tulle were informed with a nod to “culture, gestures and rituals” according to the ‘show notes’ — hence the matching face coverings. The colors recalled the red lipstick smudges left on empty coffee cups on the tables of (already open) Parisian cafés, the black of the French classic little black dress, the pink of the wild roses growing in the city’s gardens and the ivory of the ceiling moldings of grand Parisian apartments. So far, so romantic. But the execution left you cold. Unlike the Dior film, it didn’t fire the imagination, or tell a story.
