Haute Couture spring-summer 2010

The Best Of and the Worst Of…

21 collections were presented to the press:
from 10 Official Members (Adeline André, Anne Valérie Hash, Chanel, Christian Dior, Dominique Sirop, Franck Sorbier, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maurizio Galante, Stéphane Rolland missing Christian Lacroix this season ) 

from 4 Correspondents Members (Head Quarters based somewhere else than Paris: Elie Saab, Giorgio Armani, Maison Martin Margiela, Valentino)
from 7 Guest Members (Adam Jones, Alexis Mabille, Atelier Gustavo Lins, Christophe Josse, Josephus Thimister, Lefrant.Ferrant, Maison Rabih Kayrouz, missing Alexandre Matthieu, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Jean-Paul Knott, Josep Font, Marc Le Bihan this season

I think Spring-Summer collections are generally less interesting in terms of creativity because of the nature of the season there is less layering to play with and less choice of materials.

The economic malaise resulting in a less than flamboyant, more conservative and less risqué collections:

Josephus Thimister inspired by the First World War and Anne Valérie Hash who created a hybrid mix of vintage clothing offered by celebrities and her own materials, stated “I had this idea to do something about personal clothing, memory, and identity, so I started writing to people I admire and asking them to send me something of theirs to transform”.

The resulting depopulation of the designers who used to be present for the Haute Couture shows, has affected the competitive spirit. The older generation has all but nearly disappeared with the likes of Emanuel Ungaro, Valentino, YSL. The new wave of Designers have yet to reach the talent and the notoriety of their peers.

Many presented scant limited looks collections: with only 22 at Givenchy, 14 at Anne Valérie Hash, 11 at Martin Margiela, 34 at Dior. Others like Elie Saab played with only 2 to 3 different patterns and cuts for their complete collection, with only slight variation in prints and embroideries.

For the Spring-Summer 2010, I am under the impression that Designers were not as committed to their Couture Collection. Perhaps they have reached their creative point of saturation, as wearing too many hats often dilutes what a single hat could have accomplished.

I really missed Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Lacroix this season and Valentino Garavani!

There were some excellent shows though with wonderfully refined cuts and details from: Givenchy and Dior for their daywear collection as well as Armani Privé and the Stéphane Rolland collection featured below.
I can’t wait to see the prêt-à-porter commencing next week in New York to see what the fall-winter 2011 season will bring…

Back to the drawing board! - My best for this season

Looks – Givenchy, Armani Privé, Stéphane Rolland, Chanel, Stéphane Rolland

Shoes – Dior, Dior, Givenchy

Beauty looks – Armani, Chanel and Dior

My worst for this season

Looks – Maison Martin Margiela, Zuhair Murad, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Anne Valérie Hash, Chanel

Shoes – Chanel, Gaultier Paris, Chanel

Beauty looks – Givenchy, Gaultier Paris, Givenchy

My favourite pick from the Spring-Summer Couture 2010 Collections Stéphane Rolland has put together a complete collection to wear for all occasions: from daywear, to cocktail, to red carpet gowns. He has come out with fluid, fitted and nicely proportioned silhouettes with overlapping blade like laser-cut Plexiglass keystone patterns framing the shoulder-line, pockets, hem and neckline. It is as if he accessorized much of his collection with finely cut, wafer sized sheets of opaque quartz crystal and used these varieties of shapes and sizes to frame and enhance the femininity of them. He also playfully used high gloss painted patterns to give a canvas like worthiness to his “Art Pieces”. A nice mix that shows that Couture can rhyme with modernity.

Details from Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2010

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Beijing Designers Working Overtime To Make China’s Capital One Of The World’s Top Fashion Destinations

Fashion designers in Beijing are working hard to supplant Hong Kong and Shanghai as the country’s top fashion destination, with over 200 designers deeming their collections haute couture in the last decade alone. 

As Chinese designers become more focused on creating “China Style,” and less concerned about following Western trends, the push for a signature Chinese style will continue to create internal competition, causing the endogenous change necessary for a national style to emerge. 

As was the case in Japan and Korea, where domestic designers took decades to find their voice, China’s fashion designers need time as well as their innate competitiveness to develop a more global style, which can then become an influential force at fashion shows around the world. 

Elie Saab Couture Fall 2010

'Understated' is not a word that exists in Elie Saab's vocabulary. His take on Fall 2010 couture was a clear affirmation of that fact, the all-out glamour evident in billowing gowns, thigh high dress slits, and (my favourites) printed silks that swept up Auroras and night skies into cascades of starry silk.

More images after the jump.

Images: style.com

Another gothic Givenchy collection. Narnia's Snow Queen would be proud- Autumn Winter Haute Couture 2010/2011

At a glance the Givenchy Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2010/2011 collection doesn't look too gothic or menacing. Just very ornate white and gold dresses flowing to the floor similarly to the Snow Queen from Narnia or some fabulous goddess.
But on closer inspection Riccardo Tisci's dresses reveal extra pumped up gothic factor using a spinal column as inspiration for the porcelain belts (!) and actual bones for the zip pulls (!!)
Just a little freaky, non? (I NEED to find out what type of bones these zippers were made out of...)

But there is no denying that all the skull embellishments and the gothic touches add to the beauty of these gowns.
Extreme amounts of detail is the norm in Haute Couture however Riccardo Tisci's strivation for perfection makes this whole collection stand out from the rest. Despite y'know, the bones.

Beth Ruby xoxo

Valentino ups the girlie-girl OTT factor for Paris Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2010/2011

The latest Valentino collection is a funny one. On one hand the “cutesie” elements which overpower the collection appeal to my inner girlie girl and I love the bows, the lace, the flowers and pastel pinks. But on the other hand I think that it is just too much. All of these elements together make what could have been a youthful and modern collection a tad OTT.
There was a slightly darker side to the collection with ideas of restraint trying to be portrayed through the use of an actual cage like structure around one dress appearing. The darker colours of red and black were another attempt to contrast with the sugary pinks and pastel colours but I don’t think it was enough to mix it up and make the collection more memorable or interesting.

Tim Blanks wrote for American Vogue that this Valentino collection was “haute couture for the Twilight generation” and I know exactly what he means by this. But it seems odd to me that Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who are the designers behind Valentino, would choose to aim their collection at this audience. After all, I am part of the Twilight generation and I am hardly an Haute Couture customer (hah I wish)

My favourite looks (above)

What do you think?
Do you agree with me and think that the whole collection was too girlie girl to appeal to the elite and extremely exclusive people who buy Haute Couture?
Or do you think that Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli managed to achieve a beautiful and youthful collection?

Beth Ruby xoxo

Karl has raised the bar once more- Chanel Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2010/2011

Let us ignore the clothes (and the lack of black models) for a moment and just focus on the lion.
I saw this absolutely fabulous beast as a twitpic on Bryan Boy’s twitter and couldn’t believe the scale of the thing.
But after being confirmed on various fashion related website I realised thatKarl did indeed install a massive golden lion in the Grand Palais which pawed a gigantic pearl from which the models emerged from. Amazing. Forget the clothes, the set alone was incredible, it even topped the barn and ice themes from SS and AW 2010 collections.
Karl said that the inspiration for the lion motif- which also appeared on the Chanel invites, not that I was lucky enough to receive one-was because Coco Chanel’s star sign was a Leo but to be honest it was probably just an excuse to install an enormous 40 ft gold lion, not that he needed one.

Now onto the clothes. It was much more regal and back to Chanel’s roots than the Neo Romantic theme of Spring Summer 2010 with none of the Barbie/Flintstones hair and makeup and instead a simple look with red stained lips the only statement. The hemlines just above or below the knee, fur trims, golden embellishments and an abundance of darker colours which will be perfect hues come autumn/winter with shades of plum, charcoal and deep royal blue appearing. All of which came to a sartorial climax near the end when Karl sprinkled a little bit more sparkle onto the runway with my favourite looks here:

Then came the spectacular finale where a model emerged from the giant pearl, hand in hand with a man in a tux wearing a fierce lion mask. Then in a breathtaking Beauty and the Beast moment the mask was whipped off to reveal Karl’s muse; Baptiste Giabiconi.
What did you think of Karl's latest creation?

Beth Ruby xoxo

The dramatic Dr Suess-esque collection that was Christian Dior Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2010/2011

Round of applause for Galliano everyone!
His new haute couture collection for Dior is incredible. Inspired by Christian Dior’s childhood garden he created a bouquet of fashion delights with gigantic corsages in Alice in Wonderland evoking scale, topped off with exotic colours, prints, dyes and textures.

The beauty aspects of the collection were even more breathtaking with neon bright stripes of colour which come the grey and bleak winter (sorry, I know I don’t want summer to end) will truly inspire as the eye makeup was injected with an array of bold colours. I predict the darker plum shaded lips will be a big hit and how could I forget the cellophane veils, reminiscent of the collages I would piece together in primary school, which make the models look even more like a bunch of flowers. Truly inspired.

Then there was the Dr Seuss-esque hair styling with gravity defying hair designs, echoing the stems of flowers.

It was just spectacular. Just looking at the collection on Style.com (the source for all the photos) gave me a marvellous colour induced headache.
Everything was so dramatic- but then what else would you expect from the man who created the ‘les incroyables’ collection?- that I can easily imagine a hyperactive Galliano raiding the Dior archive of prints and colours, similarly to a child in a colouring box who snatches every single Crayola crayon.

Check out the collages I have made of my favourite looks:

Dr Suess hair styling. I wish I could try this one out myself.

I am definitely going to try out my own verision of this bold blue look. I', a sucker for "cat flick" eyes anyway but this makeup look is fabulous.

Gorgeous use of colour. Loving the complete disregard for the "lips or eyes" rule.

Fairytale shoes

Queen of the flowers. These models look like they could have lept out of a fairy tale book with their fantastically flamboyant dresses and haughty expressions.

Does anyone know who this model is?!

I love that she is sitting backstage at the Christian Dior Haute Couture show reading Oscar Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray" proving that she is a girl of my own heart (I would do the exact same thing) and also that it's not true when people say that all models are stupid.

Beth Ruby xoxo

Christian Dior Spring 2010 Haute Couture

This Christian Dior couture collection could have stepped right off the set for an avant guarde costume drama (obviously if costumes dramas had budgets big enough to buy couture with)

Exaggerated eye make up, huge show-off jewels drippping off every part of the models bodies, massive trailing gowns and of course lots and lots of sequins were the main aspects of the collection just showing that you don't buy Dior couture to blend into the background.

It was all about the drama.
Oh and these shoes which I am in love with. The heels are so fairy-tale like:

Source here on Style.com

Beth Ruby xoxo

Armani Privé Spring 2010 Haute Couture

Sleek and sculptural are two words which sum up the Armani Prive Couture Collection for Spring Summer 2010.

It was all about tailored fit dresses and skirt suits which were inspired by the moon. Little crescents popped up on suits and dresses and of course there were massive gowns imitating the glow of the moon itself on a midnight blue silk background.
These are my favourite looks from the collection:

Click here for more photos.

Beth Ruby xoxo

Elie Saab Spring 2010 Haute Couture

Long flowing gowns + neutral tones + pastel shades + a handful of glitter for good measure= perfect red carpet dress.

These Elie Saab couture gowns just scream "Oscars Frocks" for me and I know that if I got the chance to wear a dream dress to a red carpet event that one in the photo above would be the one.

They are practically perfect in everyway. Photo source here at Style.com

Beth Ruby xoxo

"I don't believe in avant-garde clothes for a future that will never happen. Fashion is always now"- Karl Lagerfeld on the new Chanel Couture

Of course it goes without saying that the clothes were absolutely amazing but at the Chanel Paris Haute Couture Show 2010 entitled the "Neon Baroque Collection" but what really stood out for me was the beauty side and in particular the wonderful heart shaped hair.
I am in love with the over the top, sickly sweet styling which is part Barbie princess and part cartoonish Flintstones wigs.
Photo Sources Here:

Finally I wanted to share the details I read here on how much work is put into these Haute Couture Collections:
-500 people worked on the project.
-Certain dresses are adorned with 80 buttons and there were 13,000 satin flowers used in the collection.
-One cape took 800 hours of work and bearing in mind that 65 looks were sent down the runway it is a massive understatement to say that there is alot of time put into these clothes.

By golly I love Couture week.

Beth Ruby xoxo