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Francesca Fearon

Shows of the latest haute couture collections have come to a close in Paris. So what pointers for the autumn season should we take away from them, apart from warrior women, lots of filmy, metallic fabrics, swishy pleated skirts, oh and Fifty More Shades of Grey?

Grey was the trend at Dior, Chanel and also Zuhair Murad, who is turning out to be the go-to designer for graceful, sparkly party looks.

The Lebanese designer’s show featured a series of delicate grey-coloured gowns with crystal and silver embroideries, sheath dresses with plunging backlines, and voluminous princess overskirts.

A jumpsuit in dove-grey silk velvet with a lace top under a sleeveless robe edged with ostrich feather around the neck was a particularly lovely look. The gentle colour palette ranged from soft powder pinks to cool grey-green tones, with some dresses trimmed with ostrich feathers and tulle frills while others were painted with thistles and embroidered with sequin foliage in art nouveau style. Sculpted metal wreaths of foliage anchored the dresses at the waist.

Fashion designer Zuhair Murad talks Angelababy, social media and a changing industry
 
In the modern world, time is a precious commodity, and true haute couture craftsmanship takes a lot of time – a fact that often gets forgotten. So occasional flourishes in Valentino’s programme were a helpful reminder that creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s designs are labours of love. This is particularly apparent in his latest collection for the house, where a series of coats and chasubles featuring bold intarsias (inlays of fabric) on patterned mohair and cashmere are claimed to have taken anywhere from between 920 and 1,300 hours to make. That is devotion.

Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli explores ‘fashion as a dialogue with time’ in autumn-winter 2017 collection
  
Piccioli is now designing on his own at Valentino since Maria Grazia Chiuri moved to Dior, and his voice is now starting to emerge. There was more daywear: tailoring that was loose and layered with pops of bright colour to lift the solemnity of the more muted tones. Living in Rome and based close to the Vatican, Piccioli wanted to express haute couture as a sacred notion of craft, so he turned to the ecclesiastical paintings of the Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbaran to be inspired by their billowing vestments and martyrs’ cloaks.

Handbags created in collaboration with artist Harumi Klossowska de Rola, meanwhile, featured sculpted animal’s heads that were macabre representations of the seven deadly sins.

Nevertheless it was the intarsias and exquisite patchwork appliqué dresses of fresh cotton lace with chiffon and velvet that were Piccioli’s most captivating pieces, along with the simplicity of a billowing Valentino red taffeta gown that closed the show – and Paris fashion week.



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Top eight looks at Fendi’s furry and floral haute couture show

Valentino turns to the church in haute couture collection

Paris Haute Couture Week AW 17/18

Grey dominates Zuhair Murad and Valentino shows as Paris haute couture fashion week comes to a close

Zuhair Murad’s 2017/18 autumn/winter Paris haute couture collection featured a series of delicate grey-coloured gowns. Photo: AFP

A model presents a creation by Zuhair Murad during the 2017-2018 fall/winter Haute Couture collection in Paris on July 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS GUILLOT

A model presents creations for Valentino during the 2017-2018 fall/winter Haute Couture collection in Paris on July 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Bertrand GUAY

epa06068515 A model presents a creation from the Fall/Winter 2017/2018 Haute Couture collection by Italian designer Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 July 2017. The presentation of the Haute Couture collections runs from 02 to 05 July. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Fashion designer Zuhair Murad talks Angelababy, social media and a changing industry

Zuhair Murad.

This handout image shows a models presents a ruffled, beaded mini dress and over-the-knee boots, from A/W16 haute couture. Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

This handout image shows a models presents Long-sleeved sheath dresses in black lace with black velvet cape and felt hat by Zuhair Murad from his A/W16 Haute Couture collection. Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

This handout image shows Actress Angelababy Yeung Wing wearing Zuhair Murad at the Shanghai TV Festival 2016. Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

This handout image shows Taiwan singer-actress Ruby Lin at Zuhair Murad’s couture show in July 2016 . Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

This handout image shows a models presents Chantilly lace mini dress embellished with beaded lace appliqués. Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

This handout image shows a models presents Honeysuckle pink macramé mini dress with flared sleeves by from haute couture. Photo / HANDOUT [2016 FEATURES FASHION & LUXURY Zuhair Murad]

Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli explores ‘fashion as a dialogue with time’ in autumn-winter 2017 collection

Valentino’s autumn-winter 2017 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: AFP

A model presents a creation by the Valentino women's Fall-Winter 2017-2018 ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris on March 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Patrick KOVARIK

A model presents a creation by Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli as part of his Fall/Winter 2017-2018 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Valentino during Fashion Week in Paris, France March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

epa05831492 A model presents a creation from the Fall/Winter 2017/18 Ready to Wear collection by Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 March 2017. The presentation of the Women's Ready to Wear collections runs from 28 February to 07 March. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

epa05831420 A model presents a creation from the Fall/Winter 2017/18 Ready to Wear collection by Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 March 2017. The presentation of the Women's Ready to Wear collections runs from 28 February to 07 March. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

epa05831410 A model presents a creation from the Fall/Winter 2017/18 Ready to Wear collection by Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 March 2017. The presentation of the Women's Ready to Wear collections runs from 28 February to 07 March. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty

Gentle colour palettes and muted tones featured throughout the closing collections in Paris


Haute Couture

Paris Fashion Week: Haute Couture