Opulent outlook
Unemployment in the United States is at a nine-year high and luxury companies are taking economic hits worldwide. (Gucci’s earnings declined 96% during the last quarter.) But you would hardly know it in Haute Couture Land. A handful of designers catering to a slightly larger handful of clients capable of paying $100,000 for made-to-measure creations presented their fall/winter couture collections in Paris this week. As always, the mood was opulent, and Hollywood was well-represented by awards-show-ready creations on the runway and paparazzi-bait in the front rows.
No one knows fashion fantasy like John Galliano. For Dior, he staged a Spanish-Portuguese dance spectacle with polka-dot flamenco skirts topped with corset tops, and embroidered satin gowns with organza roses nestled between the ruffles.
Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld imagined a winter wonderland with ice maidens in tweed dresses, decorated with crystals and snowflake embroideries and rimmed with ermine. Cutaway jackets paired with jeweled hip belts and metallic leather pants that melded into boots made for a Little Lord Fauntleroy look.
Christian Lacroix recalled Art Deco glamour with slinky, sequined lace gowns fit for 1920s movie sirens, worn with jeweled skullcaps.
Always offbeat, Jean-Paul Gaultier used hooded, skin-tight body suits -- one flesh colored, with trompe l’oeil arteries -- as the basis for his collection, layering them under sharply tailored suits and billowy chiffon gowns.
Beirut-based designer Elie Saab stepped into the limelight after Halle Berry wore his burgundy taffeta gown embroidered with silk flowers to the 2002 Academy Awards. And this season there was plenty for his star muse to like, including an expertly draped, dusty rose confection with bands of beading around the bodice.
At Valentino, models wearing Norma Desmond-like turbans sashayed down a red carpeted runway against the backdrop of revolving Oscar statuettes. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that celebs such as Gwyneth Paltrow, in the front row with mom, Blythe Danner, are now the world’s best couture clients.
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
