Jon's Catwalk Report - Paris Haute Couture Part I

Having endured an entire week of rather mediocre menswear, let us now proceed to the haute couture collections in Paris. Haute couture as you may well know, represents the apex of fashion design, where designers, unencumbered by practical or fiscal considerations present the purest distillation of their design vision. All the pieces are made to order and hand sewn by a small army of seamstresses, or petites mains (small hands) often with elaborate beading and feathering. Due to the difficulty of construction and the labor intensive detailing (think thousands of hours of beading) a haute couture day suit typically costs in the tens of thousands of dollars whilst a particularly elaborate evening gown can run into the low six figures. This is the price one pays for pure unadulterated fantasy.

Whether one is 'into' fashion or not, it is hard not to appreciate the technical brilliance of haute couture or the pure spectacle of it all. Moreover, one should bear in mind that the seemingly crazy ideas of couture do eventually trickle down a season or two later to the ready to wear collections (where the clothes are mass produced) and a few seasons after that, to pedestrian chain stores like the GAP. So the next time you pick up that cute little sweater with the sparkly sequins at Target, just bear in mind that its progenitor was most likely a $50,000 Chanel ensemble with gorgeous Lesage beading. Only the rich it seems, can afford to be truly original when it comes to fashion.

Right, so enough chit chat, lets get down to business. Today we are having a look at the creations of John Galliano for Dior. Known for his brilliant referencing of historical dress, Galliano remains in good form, sending out towering amazons clad in organdy and armor to spectacular effect. Who would have thought that Bob Mackie and Joan of Arc would get along so well? Fuck pretty, let's be magnificent instead.























































Now the next two ensembles are a little more in touch with reality. Clearly these are a nod in the direction of what is to come in terms of ready-to-wear, so let's all get prepared for leggings and linebacker shoulders. Think Thierry Mugler, but updated and minimal.





































Now finally, here are the gowns. One cannot even begin to imagine how one would go about constructing something like the outfits below. I would imagine that these dresses have their own gravitational field. This is couture at its finest. Galliano transcends the spectacular and frivolous, delivering something that makes our collective jaw drop. He reminds us that sometimes it is just not enough to look nice or pleasant, that sometimes, we all need to look a little crazy and monstrous and most of all magnificent.






































Stay tuned for more haute couture later in the week!