The 6 Biggest Talking Points From Couture S/S´20

Paris Haute Couture Week spring/summer 2020 has wrapped; many giant gowns have been ‘grammed (and re-grammed), and normality has once again returned to the world of fashion (for approximately two weeks, until New York Fashion Week). But, before we move on to the next, let’s savour the moment. Here are six haute points you may have missed from couture spring/summer 2020.

Jean Paul Gaultier takes a final bow

When we say “bow”, we actually mean that he crowdsurfed. The quintessentially French designer delivered an all-singing all-dancing spectacle for his final couture show, featuring Gigi and Bella Hadid, Joan Smalls and Karen Elson among his ‘friends and family’ model line up. A distinctly Gaultier kind of chaos ensued. Yes, we too are re-watching IG videos of Boy George soundtracking a faux funeral, complete with JPG-suited pallbearers and a coffin from which model Issa Lish appeared, wearing a white frou mini-dress.

Gardening is having a high-fashion moment

The natural world is far from a new design inspiration, but the catwalk is sharpening its lens on all things bucolic. This season, it was the humble joy of gardening that carried sway at couture week. “From the walled ‘rooms’ of Sissinghurst to the orchards of Monk’s House and Hubert de Givenchy’s Clos Fiorentina, Clare Waight Keller considers gardens as a tapestry of time and circumstances,” read the note planted on attendees seats at Givenchy. While Virginie Viard rewound to Coco Chanel’s formative years at the rural Aubazine Abbey, via a meandering border garden show set.

Breaking the surface

Investigations into the human subconscious and eroticism drew Valentino artistic director Pierpaolo Piccioli towards trimmer silhouettes for spring/summer 2020, compared to those of past seasons; with spiky, coral-like headpieces suggesting the influence of dreams and fantasy upon our waking lives. The mood flowed throughout couture week, where waveform frills (seen at Giambattista Valli and Givenchy) and iridescent sea creatures (Iris van Herpen) made for a heady immersion.

‘Casual’ couture is now a thing

The resolutely polished but, relatively speaking, pared-back approach at Virginie Viard’s Chanel signalled a departure from the house’s high-voltage haute couture shows. Bobby socks, Peter Pan- collars and a low-key Rebecca Leigh Longendyke, channelling the demure Chanel bride, cut through the noise with a distinctly youthful spirit.

Leon Dame’s Margiela Walk – Part Deux

The Berlin-based model who stole the show on Margiela’s spring/summer 2020 catwalk last September returned for an equally memorable catwalk appearance. ‘The Dame’ walk is now a byword for a mould-breaking, shoulder-rolling strut which, fast or slow, packs a crowd-pleasing theatrical punch.

Hat’s off

Givenchy’s continuing collaboration with London-based milliner Noel Stewart delivered the week’s internet-breaking image: one Kaia Gerber in a floor-sweeping lace wedding gown and arguably the largest bridal veil-meets-hat we’ve ever spotted at couture.