By Nitya Khirwar
‘Automne-Hiver’ 2020 presented unprecedented challenges for all fashion houses. The great thing about high fashion, though, is that it somehow always worms its way into your TV set or your Instagram feed. Despite heavy restrictions on movement, this season’s haute couture collections were no different. These sumptuous and elaborate presentations gave new definition to sitting on your couch and watching YouTube. The brands all had a different take on what the pandemic meant for dressing up: some decided to tone it down, while others decided to take it several notches up.
Chanel, Dior and Valentino were the three houses that most grabbed my attention during the pandemic. Valentino presented us with melodramatic costumes that you couldn’t bend your knees in, quite appropriate if you can’t leave the house. Chanel, on the other hand, went for a look you might consider more suitable for an online meeting, and Dior decided that wearing nothing but an elaborate slip would do just fine.
Chanel’s Virginie Viard defined this season’s theme as ‘rock-coco’, an homage to both 18th-century Rococo fashion as well as Karl Lagerfeld’s historic contributions to Chanel. Viard also used model Adut Akech’s timeless elegance as a mannequin for her blend of two completely different periods in fashion history, and the collection harks back to Gabrielle Chanel’s classic jackets. While the overall collection was cohesive, however, it is easy to lose track of the inspirations behind it. Viard could have incorporated more elements of the Rococo style – large, powdered hair and abnormal silhouettes – to add more historic depth.
Maria Grazia Churi is known for her decadent taste in silks and her artistic silhouettes. However, her exquisite direction of this season’s haute couture film stopped just short of relatability. On second thought, it didn’t even get so far. The complete lack of diversity severely clashed against the values that the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement have inspired in us. The fact that the cast was all-white stood out to me more than any of Churi’s incongruous designs and made the collection completely lose its relevance.
Valentino was an unexpected favourite this autumn. While the designs may seem over-the-top to some – there were stilts – they presented the most tasteful elegance. Pierpaolo made use of fashion statements he had made in the past and exalted them to an unprecedented extent. The designs perfectly correspond with one another, and even with the most elaborate and exorbitant collection, Pierpaolo seems to make an inaccessible part of fashion seem attainable. He makes the right use of all technical resources at hand to create an unparalleled experience.
Clothing has always been a useful component in understanding society and culture in different time periods. Therefore fashion, haute couture or not, must always have an element of inclusiveness & keeping up with the times. For me, Valentino was the only brand that pulled that off this season. It is also essential that designers are versatile enough to adapt to any change in atmosphere and mindset, for even the most elite design must resound with the common citizen to hold any real value, artistic or historical.
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