When the pandemic hit, fashion shows were forced into the digital space as brands scrambled to find a way to just keep going. We saw video presentations and short films, as well as augmented reality shows and live streamed performances. Even haute couture, fashion's most rarefied offering on the calendar, was forced to find a new way to do things. But as a new season of couture kicks off in Paris, it seems that a sense of normality has well and truly been restored.
At the Musée Rodin today, where Dior has showed its collections for years now, a whole host of celebrities attended IRL to see Maria Grazia Chiuri's latest haute couture offering for the house of Christian Dior.
There was Monica Bellucci, wearing a printed trench coat and ankle boots; Suki Waterhouse in a white shirt layered under a harness; Florence Pugh in a printed co-ord, continuing this summer's fascination with tiny going-out tops; Cara Delevingne in a navy blazer with matching trousers and Jessica Chastain in a printed shift dress. All were, of course, wearing Dior.
There was also a welcome return to the front row for Jennifer Lawrence, who channeled old Hollywood glamour in her polka dot, button-down midi dress, complete with Dior accessories. It felt quite thrilling to see an actual audience, complete with photographs of A-listers caught in candid moments on the FROW.
No wonder everyone wanted to actually see these clothes in real life. The collection was a heady mix of fantastical gowns and exquisite tailoring – and a lot of knitwear. There was a definite tactility to this couture outing, one which was echoed by the very walls of the set where models walked the runway. They were covered hand-embroideries, created by French textile artist Eva Jospin, who recruited the Chanakya School of Craft in India to help make them. Measuring 350 metres, they look three months to make by the organisation, which champions traditional craftsmanship and supports female artisans.
In fact, the entire show was really a celebration of craftsmanship, something which has faced extinction in the past year as the pandemic has put life on hold. Chiuri employed artisans from all over the world to create her new vision of couture, helping to preserve those rare skills and techniques that help to make such beautiful clothes.
Couture may not be accessible to most of us but it sure does help us all to remember to dream.
SEE: The Highlights From Paris Couture Week
1 of 7Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf's collection was a love letter to the underground rave scene and 'inspired by parties that were and parties to come'. The looks were purposely given a slightly haphazard feel, as if hurried party-goers had grabbed garments from a pile and assembled their looks in haste to get out the door, and made use of the house's stock of archive materials, including fragments of vintage dresses and sweatshirts. NH
2 of 7Fendi
For Kim Jones's debut as creative director at Fendi, the designer proved that a live-streamed show can almost be as spine-tingling as sitting front row at the real thing. There were OG supermodels alongside the new generation; Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss appeared, as did Moss' daughter, Lila Grace, Bella Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, Adwoa Aboah and Cara Delevingne. All walked on a runway that was flanked by individual glass compartments, where each model inhabited their own space. According to Fendi, this was to echo the overarching theme and inspiration which governed the collection: Virginia Woolf's Orlando – written as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West and intended as one of the main themes of 2020's Met Gala – as well as lifestyle she led with the Bloomsbury Group. These days, we are starved of magic in all its forms. How lovely, then, to be under Fendi's spell – even just for a few moments. HBW
3 of 7Armani Privé
In a usual year at the Cannes Film Festival, Armani Privé would get its second catwalk show of the year as actors swooshed down the red carpet wearing its gowns. That might not be on the cards in 2021, but Giorgio Armani still has form when it comes to frocks that demand both drama and an audience. He also, perhaps aware that opportunities for eveningwear are few and far between at the moment, provided his customer with some slightly more off-duty options, with several pairs of velvet trousers that would be make a smart substitute to whatever you've been wearing to work from home. Aware that the rarified world of couture is usually only open to a select few, Armani recognised the benefits of a digital-only showing in his show notes: 'Couture is rooted in fashion history. It represents the pinnacle of creativity and sartorial skill, but is a world available to only very few. Today, through the democracy of the internet, we are able to offer a front row seat to everyone.' NH
4 of 7Valentino
If you thought a global pandemic could kill off the heel, Pierpaolo Piccioli has two words for you: 'think again'. For his latest couture collection for Valentino, Code Temporal, the designer paired almost every look - and there were a whopping 73 of them - with statuesque platform stilettos in magpie metallics. Having said that, he did explore a slightly more down-to-earth mode of dressing. Alongside the princess-shaped gowns and opera gloves, he also presented garments that mere mortals like us have probably been wearing a lot of over the past few months - polo necks, trench coats, sweater vests and knit dresses in the dreamiest palette of pastels, neutrals and the occasional neon. NH
5 of 7Giambattista Valli
When it comes to spectacle and gowns that have real swoosh, Giambattista Valli is always one of the most hotly-anticipated shows on the couture schedule. Yesterday's video was no exception. Models wearing the most breath-taking dresses, with hair that blossomed with bows and flowers, twirled next to a dancer. 'The presence of the dancer embodies the idea of a messenger of Olympus who seeks to unveil memories, new emotions and spirits in the soul of the Valli creature,' read the show notes. NH
6 of 7Iris Van Herpen
Iris Van Herpen found inspiration from the natural world for her spring couture collection, partnering with Parley for the Oceans, an organisation that raises awareness about the beauty and fragility of our oceans, to use recycled plastics for the first time. Speaking to Vogue, Van Herpen said that the quality of sustainable materials is now so good that it's a matter of making the decision to switch: 'Basically, there's not a lot of reason not to use sustainable materials anymore, other than changing your mindset,' she says. NH
7 of 7Schiaparelli
For his third couture collection for Schiaprelli, Daniel Roseberry wanted to pay homage to the tradition of couture, while also exploding the clichés associated with the genre by introducing silhouettes and garments like bomber jackets and trousers. A a great innovator and technician, Elsa Schiaparelli made garments that, according to show notes, 'celebrate the joy of peacocking, the joy of showing off'. Roseberry's ab-tastic corsets, and his padlock-shaped minaudière, are surely a tribute to that kind of show-boating ingenuity. NH