Haute couture and its often ostentatious excesses occasionally attract ridicule, especially at a time when the work of couturiers is far removed from many people’s reality. Much of what is shown at couture weeks these days, with the star-studded front rows meticulously documented and shared by millions on social media, sometimes resembles spectacle without substance.
It’s easy to forget that the often oversized dresses, which take hundreds of hours to make, are ultimately intended to appeal to the few customers who can afford them. While the select few who can afford said five-figure dresses must be seduced by what they see on the runways and be able to wear the creations, the rest of the world is at least invited to dream – and this season some designers have dared to dream big.
Realities and dreams rooted in the archives
At Dior, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri has found a balance between the season’s two extremes, not quite dreamy but also not quite rooted in most people’s reality. For those who associate couture with a “bigger the better” mentality, the collection may seem a little sparse, but that’s not to say that the first half of Dior’s couture collection, in which the designer featured both solid-colored cotton as well as moiré fabrics, was disappointing. However, the collection was characterized by a sense of restraint that is extremely unusual for haute couture – even if it was a reinterpretation of Christian Dior’s 1952 La Cigal dress.
Pierpaolo Piccioli also took haute couture back to its roots with his spring 2024 collection, appropriately titled “Le Salon.” The models strolled through rooms decorated with a single row of seating reminiscent of couture shows of the past. It seemed like the Italian designer was practicing his version of restraint.
In the world of Valentino, that still means lots of volume and color, even if the much-loved PP pink and Valentino red took a back seat in favor of aqua, arctic blue, light gray, pastel green and chartreuse hues. Daywear, such as anorak, was sprinkled sparingly throughout the collection while still maintaining a couture-like look, not least through juxtaposition with large ball gown skirts and exceptional volume. While there was much new on the runway, presenting an effortless couture collection that was a feast for the eyes, compared to his fellow couturiers – and his own previous explorations – this one was grounded in reality.
Couture isn’t usually the reality for Simone Rocha, who first ventured into fashion’s highest echelons as a guest of Jean Paul Gaultier. There, the Irish designer created a dialogue between her own twisted, sensual view of girlhood and Gaultier’s legacy. Kylie Jenner wearing a piece from the collection front row may have caught the most attention from people on social media, but a closer look at the collection is just as, if not more, captivating.
Every distinctive element of Jean Paul Gaultier’s signature style found its place: cone bras transformed into thorny roses, Breton tops were embellished with bows, and layers upon layers of tulle and satin were artfully combined to both conceal and conceal the models’ bodies also to reveal. In many ways, Rochas’ couture debut felt like a fever dream of the girl world, with her innocence, her anger and her power all neatly wrapped up in a subtle bow.
Somewhere between fever dream, nightmare and creative genius lay the couture alien baby that became this year’s sensation at Schiaparelli. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Schiaparelli show if creative director Daniel Roseberry didn’t whip up the latest viral fashion moment like a mad hatter. However, this year’s version was a little more subdued than the hyper-realistic lion heads of previous seasons. Inspired in part by its American roots, the label’s founder Elsa Schiaparelli and her uncle Giovanni, as well as director Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien, Roseberry created a collection that features a surreal mix of Martians, cowboys and – if leaving all distractions aside for a moment – almost austere but certainly luxurious evening wear and dresses with a futuristic charm.
Kim Jones also showed something similar at Fendi. Jones cited former Fendi designer Karl Lagerfeld as a source of inspiration for his futuristic take on couture, which focused primarily on simplicity, organic geometry and technical precision.
Technical precision, or rather technical perfection, was on display at Alaïa. The brand’s Spring/Fall 2024 collection wasn’t actually intended to be a couture collection, but it became a masterclass in wearable couture nonetheless. The collection and its starting point, a single yarn of Merino wool and the idea of a circle, were transformed into garments with triumphant textures and impossible shapes that still exuded simplicity and sex appeal. At the same time, the question arose as to how some items of clothing could actually be draped on a model’s body like that. The answer, in the case of a spiral dress that resembled a snap bracelet, was a special type of 3D printing.
Fashion’s fallen dreamer is back in form
A much more difficult and perhaps impossible question to answer is that of John Galliano’s character for Maison Margiela. Galliano has long since stepped out of the shadow of the house’s founder, Martin Margiela, and his spring 2024 couture collection showcased his unique creative voice. The voice that made him one of the most lauded designers of the 90s, and a voice that, for most of the fashion world, seems louder than any previous reservations and scandals. For his latest Margiela collection, the British designer invited guests into an arch under the Pont Alexandre III bridge to create the illusion of a decaying nightclub, evoking memories of his glory days at Dior before the show began. Days that are still referenced so often in fashion schools and on mood boards.
It wasn’t necessary to look at the collection to understand that Galliano was unearthing what was once the core of his fashion theater. The catwalk was his stage and the models were his actors, bringing his romantic, erotic and often historical fantasies to life. The collection itself was masterful: from extreme corsages that modified and transformed the body, to delicate lace dresses that teetered on the border between erotic and innocence, and, perhaps most importantly, for the first time since taking the helm in 2014 took over at Margiela, he showed absolutely no restraint. Galliano presented fashion with one of the most conceptual and undoubtedly most emotionally charged couture shows of the last ten years. It was a return to form for fashion’s most infamous, complicated and seemingly forgiven “enfant terrible” as he presented a collection that dreamed big and is sure to inspire others to follow his lead.