PARIS — For their spring summer couture show, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, the Dutch design duo behind the label Viktor & Rolf, showed an all-black lineup of ballgowns, tiered dresses and a tuxedo jumpsuit that looked as though they had been attacked by a pair of scissors. (See the show here: https://www.viktor-rolf.com/collection/haute-couture-viktor-rolf-scissorhands-spring-summer-2024 )
Bright spotlights switched on at the start of the show, startling the chattering audience.
The first model walked out slowly in a full-skirted dress covered with a hulking, satin coat, cinched at the waist, its upturned collar framing her face. The silhouettes that followed appeared to be the same design, but with patches snipped away, to show legs, part of an arm, or the ivory lining.
Other looks were similarly rearranged into entirely new shapes, including one gown that had ragged material trailing on each side, and another that was sliced nearly down the middle — leaving one shoulder bare.
“It’s about our love for couture and as well the irreverence for it, to live in both at the same time,” Mr. Horsting said backstage after the show.
Mr. Snoeren explained why they used black throughout the collection.
“We wanted to focus on silhouettes and black makes everything more abstract,” he said.
The label belongs to Italian fashion group OTB.
YUIMA NAKAZATO
Yuima Nakazato showed an elaborate haute couture lineup at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris on Wednesday, sending models down a stark white runway in pleated, scrunched, shredded, and dyed fabrics, embellished with spikes and patches of shiny armor. (All the outfits can be seen here: www.yuimanakazato.com/collection/couture_ss2024.html)
The Japanese designer drew up costumes for an upcoming performance of the opera Idomeneo, debuting next month in Geneva, and the spring-summer runway collection was linked to the collaboration.
Male models were wrapped in layers of fabric — one wore an airy, sheer scarf wound around strips of silvery armor, while another moved with piles of bunched up ruffles trailing behind.
Draped dresses and skirts were embellished with huge, shimmery coins, and a suit jacket had patches that seemed barely stitched together.
The show closed with a performance by dancer Pau Aran Gimeno, who, dressed all in white, stepped into a pool of red paint and smeared it over the runway with the fabric of his trousers.
GIORGIO ARMANI
Italian designer Giorgio Armani took a shimmery haute couture lineup to a Paris runway on Tuesday, showing slim trouser ensembles and full skirted gowns in pastel hues. (View the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwueX7ST9VI. )
His Armani Privè spring summer collection drew crowds to the show venue, the Palais de Tokyo, as onlookers gathered to catch the arrivals of celebrities including actresses Glenn Close, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Juliette Binoche.
Models moved slowly down the slim runway parading bustier gowns with piles of ruffles, tapered trousers paired with silky, collarless vests and sheer tops decorated with ornate embroidered flower patterns.
Accessories included looping necklaces and earrings made of beads, as well as round, pleated hats set atop the head at an angle, forming a broad halo. Some models carried small, dangling purses, while others grasped clutches.
When the show ended, the room went dark, and the Italian designer emerged into the spotlight, offering a nod and a wave to the applauding audience.
Mr. Armani, 89, is also chief executive officer of his company, that he set up with his late partner in the 1970s.
CHANEL
Chanel creative director Virginie Viard whipped extra airiness into the luxury label’s spring/summer haute couture show, with thin veils and tufts of tulle that floated down a carpeted runway. (See the show here: https://www.chanel.com/us/haute-couture/spring-summer-2024/ )
The audience sat in a ring under a gigantic button — stamped with the label’s logo. Moving down from the ceiling, it announced the start of the show, tilting toward the photographers’ podium.
Leading the line-up, actress Margaret Qualley was all in white. She wore the label’s signature tweed jacket embellished with shiny buttons, square pockets, and a ruff collar, paired with shimmery white tights and a miniskirt. Black heeled sandals and a matching hair bow — worn by others throughout the show — finished the look.
The ensembles that followed were varied and distinct. Ms. Viard added a sheer, black train to a white bustier minidress, and trimmed a tweed jacket, with transparent, white balloon sleeves that puffed out just below the elbow.
While jackets were cut short, miniskirts were slung low, revealing white, shimmery skin-hugging material underneath.
The pastel color palette and shiny, crystal embellishments brought a light touch to the collection, offset with occasional veils of black tulle — that even took the form of trousers.
The Paris spring/summer haute couture shows ran through Jan. 25. — Reuters
