Valentino waves goodbye as Haute Couture displays its elegance.
A huge monolithic sculpture of a tweed jacket at the Chanel presentation in Paris
In a splendiferous week of Haute Couture presentations in Paris, fashion’s greatest talents gathered together to flaunt an array of rich fabrics, cutting edge designs and illustrious themes. This year’s concoction of elegance went out with a bang when Valentino bid farewell to a packed house at the Rodin Museum.
Red petals fell from the sky as a long line of immaculately presented models donning his signature red gowns swayed gracefully down the runway. Meanwhile Valentino waved goodbye with a glint of nostalgia in his eye.
Valentino backstage at his last show
A day before, Chanel had put on a show whose theme seemed to stem from the Ocean bed. Gleaming dresses gracefully wafted in the air and an array of garments reminiscent of tropical shells drifted their way past a monolithic sculpture of a tweed jacket, complete with carved buttons and braiding.
But of course, all of the above happened behind closed doors amongst people who belong to privileged social circles: celebrity invites, renowned journalists and fashion boffins.
There is, however, another side to Haute Couture in Paris which is open to the wider public. A Haute Couture that journalists like Suzy Menkes rarely include in their reports.
Scattered throughout Paris are various mini-salles which expose the works of smaller designers all of whom wish to be part of this famous and splendid week. One charming little booth in Paris’s Marée district displayed a range of jackets thematically drawing parallels with insect bodies and skin textures complete with vibrant photography above each garment.
Passers-by, fashion lovers, tourists and serious buyers mingled amongst the clothes savoring the atmosphere in one of Europe’s most prestigious fashion house locations.
Parisian fashion houses are very often ‘no go’ areas for much of the population as custom requires a certain client usually laced in rich silks and cottons. Even for the modestly dressed the idea of walking through the door of Dior or Chanel round the Champs Elysees can be far-fetched and an unwelcome reminder of the type of objects they will never be able to afford.
However, bringing Haute Couture into the heart of the public domaine for the every day person to witness can be quite a surreal experience. In an era when affordable clothes from conglomerates like H&M and Zara are all the rave, Haute Couture has almost become a spectacle of the sublime and the ridiculous.
Personal style and imaginative mixing and matching is no longer socially acceptable or considered as original. Rather, those who make a stand for originality are mocked and considered as 'a little bit crazy.'
If clothes of such supposed elegance are only accessible to a minimal few, are those further down the economic ladder destined for an image of banality? The ability and desire to express oneself uniquely I feel is slowly petering away.
