Alexis Mabille

Alexis Mabille chose Karl Lagerfeld‘s former house on rue de l’Université to show his couture collection, and he transformed the venue to present a collection filled with a spirit of fresh sophistication unlike any other show that followed this week.  While the other houses remained faithful to the traditional schedule of showing for Spring, Mabille showed his Fall Winter collection instead. It was amazing to see a comparatively young designer showing a collection of fifty pieces. And it was fifty pieces of seduction.

There were dry black masculine wool fabrics with triple layered silk organza and basket weave satin topped with the shine of jet bead embroidery and the luster of astrakhan lamb fur. Then there were silk velvets, Georgette crepes and lush duchesse satin with delicate kid skin followed by dreams in crimson red and a tempest of flowers in pastels, all topped with a fabulous white wedding gown that was to die for. The cuts were pure and simple, but oh were they chic!  like the sexy elongated silhouette with narrow shoulders and hugging hips.  In his press statement he stated, “To seduce oneself is to be seductive," and I daresay, in those garments, it will be very difficult to resist and be resisted!

Dior

Dior is all about the proverbial rising from the ashes, as in 1947, for example, when the designer showed a scandalously luxurious and, for the standards of the those times, crazy collection. John Galliano doesn‘t seem to find a reason to cling to the general mood of toning things down and keeping a low profile. He showed bouncing crinolines, ruffles and pouffed sleeves, all of which are iconic classics within Dior‘s archive. The color palette was inspired by Dutch painter Jan Vermeer. Soft, rich and warm tones contrasted with shiny whites. For evening wear Galliano really outdid himself, although some of the dresses were so big that one wonders if they’d even fit on the Red Carpet at the Oscars.

Marion Cotillard outside of Dior

With the incredible John Galliano

Armani Privé

Maestro Armani drew inspiration for his 2009 Spring Summer Haute Couture collection from China – “a China long gone," as he stated. There were references to the rich and ritualized life of the Forbidden City and to the infamous nightlife scene of Shanghai in the 1910s to 1930s. This translated into hobble skirts and Pagoda shoulders, with which he adorned his daywear. Here one dares to say that he overdid it a bit. The highlight of the show was no doubt the evening wear, where he excelled in showing some superb gowns fit for the Oscars.

Backstage after Armani Privé with Giorgio Armani

Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture collection for Spring Summer 2009 was titled Les Dessins De Sa Nature (The Designs Of Her Nature) and took place in the Entrance Hall of the Centre Pompidou. The setting was appropriate, as it seemed to be a more wearable collection than past, closer to reality and less dreamy than what one might expect from the designer’s ingenious mind. Nevertheless, it was a sumptuous display of romance and fantasy with moments of great beauty. The evening wear was divine — especially an organza and chiffon sack tunic and a long  jade green draped sheath dress in organza and chiffon.

The breath of life that these dresses inhale, the way they move, the poetry that dwells within them is really the essence of what makes them so different from ready-to-wear. The climax of the collection’s building crescendo was the wedding gown: a sky blue brocade jacket with little bouquets embroidered in antique gold art metalwork over a tarlatan and crepeline skirt with enormous flounces.

Christian Lacroix

After Christian Lacroix with Pat Rossignol and Ellen Olivier de Vezin

Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci created an ephemeral dream world for the Givenchy Haute Couture Collection, which took place in the so-called Couvent des Cordeliers, an erstwhile Franciscan cloister. There where scented silk flower petals on the floor so that the clients may tread on roses, as it were. There was excitement in the air. The show began and displayed pure perfection. These dresses speak because there is truth to them – craftsmanship and substance and not merely adornment. The sheaths were romantically fragile and at the same time quite powerful looking.

Buff colored garbadine and silk tulle were worn over a harness in matching leather and silver chains.  A short asymmetric caped dress in a powder colored silk crepe was set with bands of patent leather, and a hooded trench in a panelled dust color mixed laces worn over a body in mastic colored elastic.  There is a saying that a couturier is either an architect or a decorator. Well, there are always exceptions and one of them is Maestro Tisci.  He is both.

Elie Saab

Elie Saab is the undisputed king of glamour, and while his ready-to-wear collections are already an etude in glitz, no one can outdo the allure of his Haute Couture collections. His faithful followers flocked from the Middle East to share the front row with Mischa Barton, Kanye West and Dita von Teese.

This season Saab showed a more sober collection (for his standard anyway). There were still amazing embroideries and beading going on, but in a more subtle, tone-in-tone way. Another first was the display of some volume and structure that took the shape of a modified kimono, finished with intricate embroidery and tied with an obi. For his lush evening wear, he showed an array of beiges with only slight accents in lilac and a dusty pastel blue. Dreamy fabrics like silk taffeta, breathy chiffon, brocaded satin and organza roses conveyed his inspirations to the audience: “It‘s light and delicate like a Japanese poem,“ he stated. He truly is the couturier of princesses, and he showed a collection fit for royalty.

Elie Saab

Backstage with Mischa Barton; with Elie Saab

- René Horak

runway images via coutorture.com, Marie Goujon, René Horak and Ditte Lystbæk