Haute Couture Week kicked off on Monday, with the great and glamorous descending on Paris. First up was Schiaparelli, the brand who has managed to position itself as the cool woman's red carpet outfitter of choice with a fan club including Adele, Margot Robbie, Michaela Coel, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jessie Buckley and Beyoncé. That's quite a list of A-listers.
For Monday's show, Schiaparelli's Daniel Roseberry was inspired by the idea of 'an impossible wardrobe'. Elaborating in the press notes, Roseberry said: 'I wanted to make an impossible wardrobe - impossible not because it’s not wearable, but because it’s so extraordinary.' Unlike previous seasons or collections, the creative director admitted that most of the looks had come together in the days leading up to the show as opposed to being designed as one complete outfit. 'This approach felt like a revelation,' he said.
Keep scrolling to catch up on the shows you might have missed.
SEE: All The News From Haute Couture Week
1 of 4Giorgio Armani Privé
Giorgio Armani Privé is famous for its ability to land its wearer on best dressed lists. And for his latest show as part of Haute Couture Week, Mr Armani invited a host of his leading ladies to watch from the front row. One of them was Felicity Jones. 'There’s something magical and mysterious about his work. He’s got such a passion for film and you could really see it in the show. It was incredibly cinematic,’ Jones told Grazia. 'I don’t use this word very often but last night’s show was absolutely exquisite.'
2 of 4Chanel
For AW23, Chanel chose an almost cinematic setting - the banks of the River Seine, writes editor-in-chief Hattie Brett. Specially built stalls featured biographies of Coco Chanel, while the catwalk was created by painting cobblestones in shades of pink. With the riots over the death of Nahel M, the 17 year-old who died at the hands of police on 27 June, the occasion felt slightly bittersweet: a presentation of the pretty, carefree scene in central Paris, even as President Macron continues to try and calm the situation in the suburbs. While the new-gen actors watching - Camila Morrone and Riley Keough - will have been ear-marking the elegant black gowns for red carpets to come, this collection seemed as much geared around the couture clients wanting to stock their wardrobes with the most exquisite, but wearable, Chanel classics.
3 of 4Dior
For Dior's Maria Grazia Chiuri, sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are the most beautiful, writes Hattie Brett. Inspired by the neo-classical world - as well as a quote from Christian Dior: 'My dresses are connected to the idea of the clothes of the antiquity. I keep an apparent simplicity,' - Grazia Chiuri presented 66 looks in a strict colour palette of white, beige, black and metallics all worn with gladiator-style flat sandals. (‘Super comfortable… because you don’t see a heel in the ancient world,’ Chiuri laughed as she explained her thinking backstage). While the shapes might have been simple – think tunics, peplums and capes – the construction was anything but. Pearls featured in much of the embroidery, set off by shimmering metallic thread. Meanwhile, Chiuri had worked with craftsmen to revive a type of lace-making that hasn’t been used for centuries – even if it was so intricate it could only be made on one dress. ‘For me, couture is a territory where you can take your time,’ she said of the painstaking process. ‘And the client who comes for couture knows that it’s a different kind of clothes. It’s more timeless.’
4 of 4Schiaparelli
Beginning Haute Couture Week with a decided bang, Schiaparelli's Daniel Roseberry was inspired by 'an impossible wardrobe' for his latest collection. This particular look - which featured a gold breastplate worn with expertly applied peacock blue make-up by Pat McGrath - had a moment on social media. But far from wanting to 'break the internet', Roseberry was aiming for impact that's slightly more long-lasting. 'I wanted this collection to be aggressively, unmistakably human - and to be rooted in artistic references that feel timeless. To dress, decorate, but most importantly, to create, is as primitive as any instinct we have,' he said in the show notes.