Schiaparelli Couture Fall/Winter 2015

By Liza Foreman

Well there is retro fashion, and then there is Elsa Schiaparelli and the joy of the house being recently revived to show beautifully designed throwback creations to the designer, for the couture season Fall/Winter 2015.

Somewhat theatrical in nature, like the designer herself, the collection was fittingly shown in a faux theater that harked back to yesteryear, and was called the Theatre D' Elsa, on the Place Vendome.

Where else, for a brand with such an illustrious history?

20s-style doorways framed the runway and posters in suitably antiquated colors hung on the walls, and matched some of those found inside the decorative folder of show notes that included old world illustrations.

The Piece En 2 Actes, or the "Ce Soir, On Jour" collection, included smatterings of the late designer's favorite color, shocking pink, found in high heeled shoes or in a floor-length flyaway gown that looked Grecian in style, like some other pieces, some of which were decorated with images from Greek-style murals.

The eccentric nature of the house could be seen throughout, from a furry waistcoat and knee-length length wooly widecut trousers, to an oversized thermal looking pink skirt decked in images of a Betty Boo style woman's head wrapped in a scarf. 

And the house drew on styles from multiple eras in history, but clothed them all with a Schiaparelli twist.

There was a wartime civilian women's suit in brown tweed patchwork, dressed up with silver detailing on the collar that worked like a riff on the decoration from a military uniform.

There were decorative capes from yesteryear and rich glittering patterned materials rich with the empire, used for dresses cinched at the waist and three-quarter length trousers that worked like period pieces but, a la Schiap, retained a sense of modernity, be it from the choice of a particularly offbeat yellow, to the fact that some of the designs were combined with, say, an OTT pink polar bear sleeveless top, giving the ensemble a sense of the quirky and irreverent.

Others, like an ostentatious looking see-through blue floor-length gown, a la Marie Antoinette, with a rich embroidered black collar reaching to the midriff and revealing a line of pure white flesh, used technology or light prints on the material.

It is a delight to see such beautiful creativity, and the reworking of such an original visionary that stays true to the house's history and still stands out today.

The looks are like rare butterflies flitting through the crowded fashion scene.

Even the descriptions provided in the show notes work like a delectable menu to warm the appetite:

"A moonstruck chiffon dress and 'in the night" biker jacket, or a midnight silk velvet dress embroidered with flowers of garden pailletes and golden volutes, or a suit made of patches of tweed embroidered with zinc pailletes," read the notes.

Versace Fall/Winter 2015 Couture

By Liza Foreman

Models with straggled locks of blond hair, crowned in pretty flower chains, like those decorating the dresses, strode down the Paris runway for Versace with a nonchalance and air of Boho glamor, for the opening night of couture week in Paris.

It was as if Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane had taken his California cool aesthetic on show at his menswear collections and worked with Donatella Versace, with her beautiful craftsmanship and flamboyant detailing, to create a series of luxurious dresses that had a certain free love flair.

Indeed, love was in the air. In the show notes for the collection, the designer said, "The ethereal nature of these light as air dresses reflected a woman's passions exposed."

Sometimes she was a cute lioness, and at other times a prowling tiger.

In keeping with the Versace aesthetic, these luxurious creations were sometimes floor length and flouncy and at other times slight and sexy, think dresses that revealed sensual strips of flesh.

The idea was, "A new Versace evolution. Elevated deconstruction, softness," the house said in the show notes.

They continued:

"Stripped of detail, transparent silk chiffon gowns flow from boned bodices lined in velvet, the fabric free to float as if pure air.... Lightweight chiffon layers bring softness to tailoring, especially with the drape of bell sleeves. The tailoring is punctuated by metal staples that define the silhouette....Cut-out chiffon layers create raw-edged flowers that decorate chiffon dresses in dove grey, powdery pink, faded green and lilac....Fil coupé velvet and hand-painted flowers are floating on a long gown as if destroyed, with boning lined in velvet. A string of flowers trails up to hold the dress at the neck and the head....A new sense of ease comes from an oversized embellished sweater which hangs off the shoulder, worn over a floor length embellished slip dress, held just by slender shoulder straps."