Design & Culture by Ed

The haute couture week in Paris couldn’t end in a better way. In accordance with his manner of doing ‘everything at your own pace’ and after a six-year long break, Azzedine Alaïa‘s couture collection was like the sweetest, priciest dessert in the menu of a gourmet chef. Naomi Campbell, Alaïa’s ultimate muse, opened and closed the show wearing a delightful fur coat and incredibly pleated velvet gown respectively. The models were transformed into modern-day Nefertiti queens, thank to Julien d’Ys magical coiffeur skills. Also, what got everyone talking wasn’t a far-fetched venue or another celebrity in the f-row – most of all, the focus was on the garments. From a python coat in red and a hand-crafted leather maxi-skirt to floral motifs on a jacket and high-boots covered in leopard print, Azzedine’s rare fashion universe is as exquisite as it was when he started out few decades ago. Marvellous!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Whenever a priest wearing a soutane crosses the street, you can’t help but look at the way his garment flows and shapes in motion. Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of Valentino, had a vision for his couture collection: to grasp the sense of holiness and striking simplicity behind canonical robes he observes everyday on the streets of Rome, and convey it in the most haute way. Floor-sweeping capes had a ceremonial aura about them, just like sharply cut coats. If you think ‘Vatican’, you think ‘ornamental’ – Piccioli’s take on sacred is a lot more modern, but equally celestial.

Valentino’s collection might be the couture season’s most intriguing line-up, and if you’re still not convinced, note the one-of-a-kind metal bags with enamel mosaic details made by Harumi Klossowska De Rola especially for this occasion. Each of the bags’ shape reassembles an animal’s head – put together, they symbolize the seven deadly sins. How ironic, thinking about the sources of fortunes of some of Valentino’s richest clients…