Splashing looks
Whether you’re hitting the hotel pool or a paddling pool, EMMA JOHNSON picks out some one-piece wonders for all shapes and sizes
IN THE world of fashion, invitations don’t come much more coveted than the ones to Paris Haute Couture Week. As the name suggests, it literally represents the height of chic, a rarefied world where dresses come with telephone number-length price tags and can take months to create.
This year, not only did I get invited but I have had a front row seat to all of the shows this week.
Chanel, Maison Margiela, Schiaparelli, Giambattista Valli, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana... I was there for every one, and not only did I not have to board a plane to do so, I didn’t even have to change out of my joggers. Yes, you guessed it, like every other huge event this year, the IRL (in real life) Paris Haute Couture Week had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, it went digital for the first time, meaning anyone with access to the internet could attend.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell launched the event on Monday with a video. Wearing a top with the slogan ‘Phenomenally black’, she spoke about the ‘fight for equality and diversity in society and the fashion industry’, adding that ‘the time has come to collectively call the fashion world to task regarding inequality in our workspaces and in our industry’.
As for the presentations themselves, Dolce & Gabanna’s models gave us the ‘essence of the Italian summer’ as they stomped around the fashion house’s deserted 17th-century Palazzo Labus in Milan; while Giambattista Valli had a single model swirling around a white backdrop studio in the brand’s signature sugary confections.
Chanel adopted a similar approach, treating us to shimmering tweed suits and embellished party dresses.
Ever the showman, Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing took to the Seine River for the fashion house’s 75th anniversary couture show.
Models wore pieces from the brand’s archives, and the whole thing was livestreamed exclusively on the social media platform of the pandemic, TikTok.
Leave it to Dior to steal the (virtual) show though, and designer Maria Grazia Churi served up a big budget film, Le Mythe Dior, directed by Gomorrah’s Matteo Garrone.
Opening in the brand’s Italian atelier, we saw seamstresses creating doll-sized couture dresses to fit tiny mannequins, before we were transported to an enchanted realm of nymphs, mermaids and maidens who modelled the pieces – all now full size and fabulous.
The 12-minute movie was breathtaking, although there has been some criticism over Dior’s use of all-white models.
It will of course, remain to be seen how this digital couture week translates into sales.
After all, that is what it is supposed to be – a way to sell clothes – and there is still a tiny minority of people out there with pockets deep enough to buy these dreamy creations.
While the fashion industry deserves to be applauded for adapting its business model to these difficult times and utilising digital technology, there is no escaping the fact that online videos cannot capture the emotions and electricity that live shows, and all the street style, celebrity appearances, parties and general pizzazz that accompany them, generate.
And as seasoned virtual shoppers will tell you, how an item looks online can be very different to how it looks in your hands.
Crucially though, when you are watching fashion shows from your sofa, you don’t get a goodie bag on your chair...