MATEREZA COUTURE Collection for Autumn/Winter 2021/22

The MATEREZA COUTURE Collection for Autumn/Winter 2021/22 entitled « À Cassandre » was shown online during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Inspired by Ronsard's poem, MaTereza, gives us an idyllic vision of beauty, fragile, ethereal and precious. 

Silk, satin, tulle, adorned here and there with hand cutted flowers. We travel from aqua green to black, from white to red, following the phases of the blossoming of a flower woman.

Sweetheart, let’s see if the rose

That this morning had open

Her crimson dress to the Sun,

This evening hasn’t lost

The folds of her crimson dress,

And her complexion similar to yours.

Ah! See how in such short space

My sweetheart, she has on this very spot

All her beauties lost!

O, so un-motherly Nature,

Since such a beautiful flower

Only last from dawn to dusk!

So if you believe me, my sweetheart,

While time still flowers for you,

In its freshest novelty,

Do take advantage of your youthful bloom:

As it did to this flower, the doom

Of age will blight your beauty.

Photos by Greg Alexander © Méphistophélès Productions

Ziad Nakad "Birds of Love" at Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture SS21

All Photos: Greg Alexander

The Birds of Paradise collection by the Lebanese designer Ziad Nakad landed at the lavish Château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte, the largest private estate listed as a Historic Monument in France, 50 kilometers southeast of Paris.  Here are the amazing gowns in opulent settings captured by photographer Greg Alexander.

In Zian's own words: Fly away from Beirut, bruised by recent events, longing for escape, for dreams, for travel.

Ziad wanted this collection sexy, slightly frivolous , in order to regain the carefree life of yesterday. 

The dresses are majestic, transparent, airy, the ostrich feathers mingle with silk and lace. 

All pieces are entirely hand-embroidered in the designer's atelier; the lockdown has given designer the time to do his magic…for example the wedding dress that required 3 months of work, or 3 months of escape ...

All photos by Greg Alexander.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week go digital this January

Paris Men’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week will still proceed this January but all shows and presentations will be held online only without live audiences, according to the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, due to Covid-19 restrictios in France and public gatherings are prohibited.

Although fashion houses and brands can still organise meetings as well as live shows with models, these are to be done behind closed doors, under strict coronavirus guidelines, including only a limited number of people can be present at the same time in any given space.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week runs from January 19 to 24 and reportedly the provisional calendar at the moment includes Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Dries Van Noten, Dior Homme, Paul Smith, Wales Bonner, Hermes, Vetements, Jil Sander, Thom Browne and Celine.

Haute Couture Week is running from January 25 to 27, with the provisional schedule opening on the Monday with Schiaparelli, Iris Van Herpen, Christian Dior and Giambattista Valli.  Following on the Tuesday will be Chanel, Stéphane Rolland, Alexandre Vauthier, Giorgio Armani Privé and Valentino. The third day will feature Maison Margiela, Elie Saab, Viktor and Rolf, Zuhair Murad.

Challenges posted by the current coronavirus has forced Jean-Paul Gaultier to postpone its one-off couture collection by Sacai’s Chitose Abe, and the London-based couture and ready-to-wear label Ralph and Russo has cancelled its presentation.

Kim Jones will make his womenswear debut for Fendi Couture on January 27 with a show that will be livestreamed on the Italian brand’s website and social media channels. Jones who was appointed as artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women at Fendi in September is making his womenswear debut at Haute Couture Week.

Alber Elbaz is returning as an invited guest member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode with his joint venture with Richemont, AZ Factory. Elbaz’s new luxury label will present its first products on January 26.

Other newcomers to the schedule include 24-year-old Charles de Vilmorin on January 27,  and S.R.Studio.LA.CA. by Sterling Ruby on January 28.

Virginie Viard to succeed Karl Lagerfeld

The fashion maison of Chanel has announced that Karl Lagerfeld’s right hand Virginie Viard will succeed him as the creative head following the death of the Kaiser.

Regarded as Lagerfeld's closest collaborator for more than 30 years, Virginie was deemed the most important person for Lagerfeld and his atelier, as revealed by the German designer himself in the Netflix documentary 7 Days Out, which captures the drama behind the scenes seven days leading up to Chanel’s Spring 2018 haute couture show.  While Virginie has been the key person responsible for bringing Lagerfeld's sketches to life in the Chanel atelier, all eyes and ears will be on how she will bring her own personality to the French fashion house in the next couture show and beyond "so that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on”,  according to Chanel CEO Alain Wertheier.

Alin Le’Kal exquisite gowns and dresses at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week for Spring-Summer 2019

Femininity and elegance: Australia-based designer Alin Le’Kal's ball gowns, bridal and evening dresses - long and short - showcased at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week for Spring-Summer 2019 in January was as much about indulgence and finesse as power dressing and superb intricate workmanship.  

The designer captivated his audience and clients with sparkling crystals, angelic feathers, radiant beading and intricate detailing in his collection of “Reflected Elements”.

Paris Haute Couture Fashion S-S 18: the Jean Paul Gaultier twist

Jean Paul Gaultier does haute couture with a twist: exploiting bold monochrome and psychedelia.  The SS2018 collection has got the 1960’s vibe: Sci-fi A-Go-Go style. 

Models gyrate down the catwalk enveloped in swirling silhouettes and asymmetric cuts. Note the long groovy fringes, fun missed-matched tights and coordinating shoes and boots, geometric earrings and exaggerated bangles; macrame knots and basket weaves; twisted panels creating a 3-D effects. 

Then M. Gaultier goes over-drive with head-to-toe electrifying colours. 

Feast your eyes also on the daring circular motifs of vibrant colours. An execution of avant-garde surrealism.

Credits: beautypress.com

Images: P. Stable

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week - Valentino Spring/Summer 18 Voluminous Glamour

Valentino’s Haute Couture Collection SS 2018 speaks volume for the shape of modern day glamour infused with colours of the garden and giant scale floral motifs.

The fashion house combines graceful poetry with superb hand craftsmanship.  To complete the voluminous look, hats by British designer Philip Treacy created in fluttering ruffled feathers add maximum drama.

According to Valentino Haute Couture’s descriptions, it is  classic Haute Couture, read in the present, made of knots, glamor, Gowns of Emotions while thinking of Lady Duff-Gordon (a British designer of the late 19th and 20th Centuries); full colours of Andrea Pontormo (of Florentine Renaissance), imposing materials like taffeta and moiré, lace and intarsia.

Today's Haute Couture, which contemplates the day, chinos and trenches, composed of pieces assembled for immediate and solemn attire.

A personal and heartfelt Haute Couture, presented in an intimate way, as we used to do.

The work of the Workshop as the Art of Time, as an uninterrupted dialogue between those who imagine and those who perform, says Valentino.

#ValentinoHauteCouture

Text Source & Images: Beautypress/Valentino

Ziad Nakad dreams up gowns for a magical Snow Crystal Forest

A romantic vision of modern goddesses in magical colours: from snow flakes white to a spectrum of smoky greys and glittering silver, wintry purples, velvet, tulle, lace, intricate embroideries and elaborate beading in soft reds and  powdery pinks, midnight blues, champagne and white.

For this Autumn-Winter 2017/2018 collection on show recently at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Shows, Zaid Nakad, born of a Lebanese descent, dreams up gowns for "The Snow Crystal Forest",.

Celebrities and headline-grabbing society women seeking their memorable red carpet moment would be spoiled for choice as the designer known for combining sophistication and luxury with head-turning drama turns out design after design of show-stopper evening gowns.

Body-revealing femininity manifest through the use of cut-outs on the back and shoulders as each gown shines through extraordinary detailing, accentuating statuesque figures in a fairy tale.

And among the most alluring of his head-turning gowns on show at the Hôtel Westin Paris Vendôme are creations for brides, dressed like a queen or a modern day goddess in white and muted gold illuminated through dramatic sequence and embroidery  for a dramatic effect.

Photo Credit : Kirsty Sparow / Getty Images for Ziad Nakad