Armani Privé Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

It was obvious that Giorgio Armani’s haute couturecollection was all about the moon. It was in the colors – from midnight blue to moon-white – in the buttons and closures, in the rounded silhouette, in the curvy cutting and in the embroideries made to look like craters of the moon. For evening there were sparkling silver beading at dresses, pale metallic pinks and greens and many shiny sequins.

Surely there are some designs we will see again during the Oscar Awards. Especially the long, figure-narrowing dresses in black with white or cream.

Christian Dior Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

Elegant amazones walked the small runway at the first floor of the Christian Dior store in Paris. Kylie Minogue was sitting front row, as was Dita von Teese and Tavi, the 13 year old fashionblogger from Chicago.

John Galliano took a picture of couturier Charles James as his inspiration for the ss2010 haute couture-collection. And it was a sensory overload as usual. This time Galliano’s researchtrip went to the Metropolitan Museum where the gowns of Charles James caught his eye. There he saw a  picture of the designer – who influenced Monsieur Dior to come up with the New Look – with an image of women riding sidesaddle in the backround. The result is a collection full of riding skirts with nip-waisted jackets, frothy cocktail dresses and satin ballgowns. Colors went from black, white an red to purple, orange, green and pastelshades.

The refined elegance, the strong women and the longer skirts and accent at the waist will influence a whole new silhouette for the coming seasons.

Come back of Thimister

Josephus Thimister (47), from Dutch origins and an promising talent of the Belgian school in the late nineties –  made a come back last sunday with a self financed haute couture collection.

Bloodshed and militairia were the two themes he wove into his haute couturecollection for fall 2010. Thimister took his inspiration from a photograph of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Emperor Nicholas II’s murdered 13-year-old son, who was routinely dressed in uniform as a boy. The result was a collection men’s and womenswear mixing romanticism (in red, white, army-green) with a raw-edged minimalism: tank tops and jodhpurs splattered with fake-blood, officer’s jackets, narrow dresses, army cats and jumpsuits. Thimister told style.com he’d used resonances from World War I because “what happened then was the start of modernism: war, sorrow, destruction we’re still dealing with now. And the lack of creativity and spirituality”.

Do you want to know more about Thimister? Read this interview at style.com: www.style.com/stylefile/2009/12/josephus-thimister-has-nothing-to-lose/

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

It was an haute coutureshow full of emotion, a collection produced on a shoestring and only made possible by the collective will and donated time and skills of the seamstresses, embroiderers, jewelers, milliners and shoemakers loyal to Christian Lacroix. Only the models were paid, €50 each according to French law, but they ended up in tears too. Lacroix didn’t cry, he said he wants to continue, maybe in a different way, with a smaller atelier. Het just cares about the women who do the job for him. The collection was sober and restraint, only in black and midnight blue and concentrated on shape and wearability. In al its purity it showed Lacroix’ craftsmanship. As the designer came out to lead he bride in the finale, the whole audience stood up to honour him. Bravo!

Armani Prive Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

The pantsuit is making a subtle comeback at Paris haute couture, and there’s only one master who can make beautiful pantsuits: mr Armani. He has a lifetime authority on the subject. His show focused on jackets with rounded shoulders over sofly pleated pants. Colors were silver, black and ivory. Armani said he’d been inspired by black-and-white-movie stars, but the collection never looked too retro.

Chanel Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

The Chanel haute couture collection was shown in the Grand Palais on a stage set with giant No 5 bottles. The collection looked quite toned-down, Lagerfeld played with graphic proportions – suits and dresses with long panels at the back shown with lace tights  and stiletto heeled booties. The sparkle was there, but it didn’t lit a huge fire.

Givenchy Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

Even when he’s designing haute couture Riccardo Tisci moves between strict-chic  and otherworldly, goddesslike creatures living in his fantasyworld. This season it looked like mix of Morocco, Berber tribes-people and other Middle Eastern influences. The silhouette was tailored with padded shoulders and focus at the waist, fabrics moved from velvet to leather and golden embroidery. There were hoods and veils, corsets and drapes – and it all looked very modern.

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

Jean Paul Gaultiers message was clear: his haute coutureshow was a tribute to all those moviestar-beauties of the last decade- from Brigitte Bardot tot Lauren Baccall and Louise Brooks. A perfect theme for a glamourous couturecollection with lots of silver, gold, lace, tuxedo’s, leather and fur.

Christian Dior Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

It was just a plain haute coutureshow without the extravagant theater. In the dove grey salons of the Christian Dior headquarters John Galliano held an almost traditional show like it was in the fifties. Galliano was inspired by behind-the-scenes photos taken as Monsieur Dior dressed his cabine of mannequins for shows. So there were half dressed mannequins in lingerie and petticoats wearing brightly colored variations on the classic New Look-silhouette.

Valentino Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW08

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