There’s nothing quite like couture. To the uninitiated, Couture Fashion Week takes place in Paris twice a year and sees all of the major fashion houses showcasing their most lavish collections.
While the clothes themselves might only be accesible to the 0.1 per cent – prices hover between five and six figures – the event itself is a sartorial spectacle, one that often sets the trend agenda for the months ahead.
Given the opulence of it all, Couture Fashion Week also often attracts an A-list crowd both on and off the runway.
This season alone we’ve seen supermodels and global pop stars mingling alongside Academy Award-winning actors and reality TV stars – and that was just at Balenciaga.
As the most ostentatious week in fashion comes to a close, here are our favourite standout moments.
Dior pays homage to Ukrainian art
Earlier this year, Dior’s artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri visited an exhibition at the MAXXI, Italy’s national museum of 21st century art, in Rome.
While there, she came across the work of a Ukrainian artist: Olesia Trofymenko. Her whimsical aesthetic caught the designer’s eye, and she asked her to design the set for her couture collection.
Trofymenko’s artwork – a series of floral prints in homgae of Ukrainian folklore – was the key source of inspiration for Chiuri’s collection, which revoled around the idea of imagining “a better tomorrow”.
It was a touching tribute to the country that championed craftsmanship and artisanal goods – components that are often left lacking in contemporary fashion landscape.
Christine Quinn makes a surprise appearance at Balenciaga
Selling Sunset fans were delighted to see their favourite on-screen villain make an appearance on the couture runways this season.
Christine Quinn is a fan of the luxury Spanish fashion house and has attended its shows in the past. But this marks the first time the reality TV star has modelled its clothing.
The 33-year-old strutted down the runway wearing a silver sequin mini dress paired with sheer tights and long black gloves. What made her appearance all the more striking, though, was that she was among fashion, music and acting royalty.
Dua Lipa, Naomi Campbell, Bella Hadid and Nicole Kidman were just some of the other models in the show, which swiftly went viral across social media. Now Quinn can count herself among this elite crew.
Everything about North West
Who knew that the standout star of Couture Fashion Week this season would be the nine-year-old daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West?
And yet, little North has garnered more column inches than her parents this week. If not for her impeccable ensembles – there’s been Balenciaga Crocs and an Olivier Rousteing for Jean Paul Gaultier pinstripe suit to match her mother’s – then for her remarklable candour.
In a viral clip, the nine-year-old is seen walking out of the Balenciaga show with Kardashian only to be greeted by dozens of paparazzi photographers. “Why do you have to wait for us all the time?” she asked them in a rather, shall we say, confrontational tone.
One replied: “Because you’re so famous, we love you!” Alas, the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have a PDA moment
Another viral moment from Couture Fashion Week came by way of new runway star Nicole Kidman and her husband of 16 years Keith Urban, who were pictured kissing outside the Balenciaga show.
And it wasn’t just a peck. We’re talking full on hands-on-face snog, only in front of dozens of photographers. It was a power move, to say the least. And everyone lapped it up.
Chanel serves up some simple pleasures
Never one to miss a beat with its fashion shows, Chanel once again offered a dazzling couture collection, though on this occasion, the aesthetic was a little simpler than usual.
Instead of the usual logomania we’ve seen in previous collections, artistic director Virginie Viard’s autumn/winter couture lineup featured very few interlocking Cs. Instead, the collection was largely made up of classic heritage tweed suits but with references to 1930s glamour and Art Deco.
There were pastel pink two-pieces, silver foil-like frocks, and even some layered tulle gowns. But not a flashy logo in sight.
