Couture Fashion Week

I have been amazed by the ingenuity of designers in the face of Covid. Fashion shows have not been able to go ahead and whilst there has been much debate in recent years about the need and relevance of shows today, particularly considering the environmental impact of Fashion Week Events, catwalk shows have still been the mainstay of promotion for the majority of designers.

As I’ve said before, I love the catwalk, as a teenager I’d look forward to the Clothes Show every week, mesmerised by the collections of Romeo Gigli, John Galliano, Rifat Ozbek and of course Vivienne Westwood. My initial disappointment to the cancelled shows, soon gave way to the realisation that designers had been forced to get creative, visualising their collections in new ways and I was blown away by some of the results.

For Couture Fashion Week, Dior as always for me did not disappoint. From start to finish every detail of the film created by Matteo Garrone and Maria Grazia Chiuri is just exquisite. It’s a homage to Dior’s history, based on the Théâtre de la Mode, the miniature travelling fashion exhibition, used to promote Parisian couture during the second world war. It’s reference to the ‘Petites Mains’ that from the offset, highlight the craftsmanship behind the clothes. The storytelling, combining mythology, art history and female creatives to set the seen for the clothes themselves was just beautiful.

Dior:

Autumn-Winter 2020-2021 Haute Couture.

The film for Viktor & Rolf Fall Winter 2020/2021 was wonderful, as apposed to Dior’s fantasy / escapist response to the pandemic, they embraced the moment to create a tongue in cheek collection, inspired by covid that just made me smile.

A 'Panoply of Gloom' Viktor & Rolf: Haute Couture Fall Winter 2020/2021.

I’ve really enjoyed watching the couture collections, for the most part I didn’t miss the catwalks. And aside from the audience members who missed out on seeing the shows in person, for most of us who don’t have that opportunity, and only ever watch the collections online it was more interesting to have the added dimension of filmmaking. Film showed the inspiration behind the collections, introducing drama, emotion and a narrative to promote ideas and values that are not always immediately apparent when watching the procession of models on a catwalk. Yes couture, often sets the scene on which collections are based through the use of lavish locations and backdrops, but film definitely adds another dimension and has given me much to think about in terms of how I visualise my own work going forward.