When couture and lockdown collided…

The bi-annual shows provided starry front rows, buzzy debuts and a reason to put the good clothes on now, says Grazia’s Kenya Hunt

IF THERE WAS one takeaway from the month’s couture shows, it’s that even when faced with tidal waves of change, fashion rolls on.

‘Are fashion shows any longer necessary?’ an International Herald Tribune article, published way back in October 2001, asked. Weeks before, the September 11th attacks had completely upturned the world and status quo. Editors couldn’t travel. Some fashion houses staged screenings of ‘virtual’ shows. Others sent special packages with lookbooks. There was a lot of talk about technology and how it could forever change the way people look at, think about and interact with clothes. And yet time revealed that the screen couldn’t compete with the experience of seeing a dress up close, of touching its silk, running one’s hands through the pleats. Sound familiar?

So how to make sense of this new moment in time? Three lockdowns in. And four virtual women’s fashion week seasons. An entire year with Covid.

Dior’s creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, has never shied away from the news cycle or zeitgeist. And for her latest virtual couture show, in the form of a 15-minute film directed by Matteo Garrone, she explored existential questions in a Dior collection dedicated to tarot, with 45 gilded, regal looks crafted in tribute to a range of mystical characters.

Tarot readings have risen in popularity among Millennials and members of Gen Z looking to find clarity in these pandemic times. And Maria Grazia has been known to sprinkle astrological motifs throughout her work. So, in a way the collection felt like a natural progression. ‘Christian Dior was very interested in tarot,’ she explained during a Zoom call. ‘And in this moment, myth and magic can help us have hope for the future.’

Mentally, it can be hard to bridge the gap between utility and beauty when our day-today wardrobes look more pragmatic than ever. Where does couture fit in, in a world in which we’re quarantined to our homes? Maria Grazia said she wanted to explore the idea of tarot as a ‘fairy tale’, going big on the fantastical and romantic with medieval empire-waist dresses. These are clothes in which to escape the reality of track pants and news alerts – dresses that remind you

of the promise of a brighter future.

There’s a very real sense of optimism as an antidote to the bleakness in fashion right now – a ‘things can only go up from here, so we might as well dress all the way up’ kind of mood. At Chanel, Virginie Viard was thinking about life beyond lockdown in a joyful show put on for a very small audience at the Grand Palais and streamed to the rest of the world. In front of a starry, socially-distanced front row, including Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Lily-rose Depp and Vanessa Paradis, the runway was filled with vibrant, candy box-bright florals and frilled party dresses and tweed suits.

Only, rather than escaping to a magical realm, as at Dior, the Chanel woman is off to a family gathering – arguably one of the aspects of our old life we miss most. Who doesn’t long for the day when we have a real occasion to dress for, filled with the people you love and permission to touch them.

Virginie wanted to explore the idea of freedom, dance and summer parties. ‘I knew we couldn’t organise a big show, so I came up with the idea of a small cortège that would come down the stairs of the Grand Palais and pass beneath arches of flowers. Like a family celebration, a wedding…’ she said in a statement. ‘I love big family reunions, when the generations all come together. It’s so warm. There’s this spirit at Chanel today. Because Chanel is also like a family.’

What was perhaps most striking about this show was its unapologetic sense of hope and cheeriness, from flower crowns to layers of pink lace on a bolero jacket. In the Chanel woman’s world, the question isn’t if we’ll ever be able to dress up again, but when. And why even wait to start?

In the hours leading up to the show, various editor and influencer friends of the house, who would ordinarily fill the front row, took to Instagram to post photos of themselves at home, dressed in Chanel. The moment made a case for putting the good clothes on now.

Elsewhere, and perhaps most excitingly on the virtual runways, Kim Jones made his highly awaited couture debut, which was also his first collection in his new role as artistic director of Fendi. It’s hard to create a sense of excitement around a live-streamed show. And many fashion houses have struggled to reach the same level of engagement for runway presentations broadcast on screens as they do with physical shows, replete with all the drama of an audience of glossy, powerful insiders and a front row filled with celebrity VIPS. That said, Kim managed to rise to the task with a co-ed cast that spanned A-list actors (Demi Moore) and supermodels (Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Adwoa Aboah and Bella Hadid), with starry relatives mixed in for an added dose of buzz (Kate’s daughter Lila, Adwoa’s sister Kesewa, Christy’s nephew James, and Silvia Fendi’s daughter Delfina Delettrez, to name a few). Kim wanted the collection, a tight line-up of 19 dresses and suits inspired by Virginia Woolf ’s Orlando, to speak to the power of family, and in so doing made a statement about resilience. ‘Fendi represents artisanal quality of the highest order, and it is all about family,’ Kim says. ‘It is in its third generation with a Fendi at its helm, and I am guest starring while bringing in the fourth. Here, I am surrounded by strong, powerful women who I love and respect, and want to bring their energy into what I do.’

Meanwhile, at Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s response to the moment was to strip back the exuberant sense of shape he has become known for, even if the show itself felt grand in scale (74 men’s and women’s looks). Towering gold platforms notwithstanding, the clothes, which included straight-leg khaki trousers, a breezy trench, knit roll-necks and yes, even a hoodie, had a noticeable ease. Giorgio Armani, meanwhile, used his collection of elegant, fluid dresses to communicate a sense of perspective. ‘Couture is rooted in fashion history. It represents the pinnacles of creativity and sartorial skill, but is a world available only to very few,’ he said. ‘Today, through the democracy of the internet, we are able to offer a front row seat to everyone.’ Roll on.