Nostalgia-tinged evening wear, fantasy-fuelled escapism and messages about world peace featured during a packed Paris Couture Week that also saw new changes on fashion's artistic director merry-go-round. Twenty-nine houses showed off collections during Couture Week, which wrapped up on Thursday, following Men's Fashion Week last week. - 'Past centuries' - Dior chief designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said her Spring-Summer 2025 collection was inspired by "the creativity of past centuries", making the Italian one of several artistic directors who was looking back for inspiration.
Retro draped skirts or short crinolines, as well as trapeze dresses and coats inspired by Yves Saint Laurent's designs in the 1950s for the venerable Parisian brand, were highlights of a show watched by a star-studded audience at the Rodin Museum. Daniel Roseberry, chief designer at Parisian house Schiaparelli, sent out models including Kendall Jenner in a range featuring corsets prominently, saying he had been inspired by ribbons he discovered from the 1920s and 30s. In his notes accompanying the show he said he "wanted to travel through time, to create silhouettes that might conjure up the haute couture of the past".
- Escapism - For many fans of haute couture, it serves as pure escapism, a celebration of beauty, creativity and craftsmanship. But just like everyone else, designers have the rapidly shifting and unpredictable nature of our world on their minds. Zuhair Murad, who has been working with his ho.
