What fashion trends can we expect from the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week 2019?
As Paris Fashion Week’s highly anticipated haute couture shows prepare for their second stint of the year, let’s look at some of the most head-turning looks so far.
By Sandra Sparrowhawk | Jul 3, 2019
Twice a year Paris transforms from the city of love to the city of fashion. Every year, the world’s most influential fashion designers, from Christian Dior and Valentino to Balmain and Chanel, thrill their audiences with new catwalk collections and eccentric fashion designs.
Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week is set to showcase its Fall/Winter 2019/20 collection from June 30th, 2019.
Let’s take a look back through the Reuters archives to see the event’s most daring designs this year.
Designers make a splash with swim caps
Bathing caps are usually associated with competitive swimmers and not considered visually appealing – but that didn’t stop Karl Lagerfeld from spotting the potential behind the handy swimming accessory.
At Chanel’s couture show, the designer entrusted top model-turned-bride Vittoria Ceretti with closing the show in a bedazzled bathing suit, topped with a decorative swimming headpiece and a cathedral-length silver veil. The model previously set Instagram ablaze with a close-up of Valentino’s flutter lashes.
But Chanel wasn’t the only designer to reinvent the swim cap. Dior equipped its models with both glitter and matte caps for this year’s show, while Amber Heard sported an algae green Valentino-made luxury cap for the London premiere of superhero flick Aquaman in 2018.
Valentino’s feather lashes
Bleached eyebrows, heavy eyeliner and yes, feather-adorned XL lashes took center stage at Valentino’s haute couture fashion stint. The renowned brand enlisted British make-up magician Pat McGrath to create two eye-popping looks for this year’s Spring/Summer 2019 show.
The real multi-colored feathers– all custom-made to match the breathtaking gowns – were individually glued to artificial strip lashes along each model’s upper and lower lash line, resembling the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings when on the move.
Other models rocked striking pastel floral face paintings echoing the color palettes of their couture fashion pieces on display.
Balmain celebrates haute couture comeback
Following a 16-year hiatus, Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing – who replaced Christophe Decarnin in 2011 at the age of 25 – debuted the brand’s first haute couture show since 2002.
The show featured striking pastel silk dresses and coats, futuristic pearl handbags and over 1,000,000 Swarovski stones.
“We’re living in a world where we are almost scared to look at the past because everybody’s so stressed about what is the future, [about] what is next. I am looking at the past to understand the present, and to actually dream of a better future,” the 33-year old designer told Vogue.
Viktor & Rolf make a bold statement with meme-inspired frocks
In combining internet culture with elegance, Dutch designer duo Viktor & Rolf certainly did the unexpected – and inspired countless memes. The fashion house sent 34 Instragram-worthy statement dresses down the runway, featuring everyday slogans from “Sorry I’m late, I did not want to come” to “Leave me alone” and “I’m not shy, I just don’t like you.”
In addition to the funny slogans, the brand’s voluminous tulle dresses also featured political messages such as “I want a better world”, an overt reference to the ongoing desecration of US national parks in the wake of the government shutdown and “Freedom.”