Haute Couture Week news and archive

Iris Van Herpen dresses women as a jellyfish, Schiaparelli launches them into the future

Paris – Designer Iris Van Herpen proposed a descent into the deep sea on the first day of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture. The spectacular show included laser lights that sculpted her creations as they moved down the runway. Known for her fusion of high technology and fashion, the Dutch designer presented skin-tight dresses. These dresses...

FeaturedMember

Business|Interview

Designer Tony Ward: ‘The ban on the Russian market is a catastrophe for the world of Couture’

On the heels of Paris Haute Couture Week January 2024, FashionUnited caught up with Lebanese designer Tony Ward, who presented his SS24 collection at the Palais de Tokyo. During the conversation, Ward spoke about his beginnings in fashion, the business of Couture, from private clients to the red carpet, Lebanon and the consequences of the...

FeaturedMember

Business

Realists and dreamers compete at Haute Couture Week in Paris

The legitimacy of couture and its often ostentatious excess on show can occasionally attract scorn, especially in times when the couturier's work is far removed from many a person's reality. So much of what is shown at couture weeks nowadays, with celebrity front rows meticulously documented and shared by the millions on social media, seems to...

Fashion

Margiela returns, Iris Van Herpen's absence: Haute Couture Week schedule unveiled

The provisional schedule for the upcoming Haute Couture Week has been unveiled, with many of the regular attendees already in place, while others appear to be skipping the biannual fashion event. The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), the governing body for the French fashion industry, unveiled the lineup for the occasion,...

Featured

Fashion

'It's time': Haute couture embraces men

Long the preserve of women, haute couture has in recent years opened up to men who dare to ditch the black tuxedo for something with a few more feathers, sequins and embroidery. Couture week in Paris, which ends on Thursday, has seen an unprecedented number of male looks. It's a sign of the times in the rarified realm of haute couture. "Red...

Fashion

First Saudi at Paris Fashion Week underlines dramatic changes

Saudi Arabia is continuing its multi-billion-dollar entry into all aspects of global culture, hitting a new milestone on Thursday with the first Saudi designer presenting at Paris Fashion Week. Mohammed Ashi's haute couture show -- his first as part of the official roster after years of dressing top celebrities -- is "the peak of my career," he...

Featured

Fashion

Charles de Vilmorin, the young designer turning couture unisex

At just 26, French designer Charles de Vilmorin is setting the tone for fashion's most elite segment, the haute couture week in Paris, with his gender-fluid aesthetic. "The others might not necessarily do it, but I have to do it," de Vilmorin told AFP ahead of his first live catwalk show during the official couture week on Monday. While...

Fashion

Greek goddesses at Dior couture show

There were no frills or heels for Christian Dior as the label took over the Rodin Museum in Paris on Monday, putting on a fitting homage to Greek goddesses for the opening day of haute couture week. The show opened with a long white woollen dress and matching cape, while other designs used pleats to evoke classical-era statues. The clothes were...

Fashion

Paris couture week skirts around riots with Surrealist start

An artist-inspired show from Schiaparelli opened Paris haute couture week Monday, easing fears that fashion shows would have to be cancelled due to five nights of rioting across France. French label Celine cancelled its show on Sunday (held outside the official calendar) due to unrest sparked by the police killing of a teenager last week. But...

Fashion

Celine cancels fashion show as France mourns

French fashion house Celine has cancelled its menswear show in Paris this weekend due to ongoing riots sparked by the police killing of a teenager, designer Hedi Slimane said Saturday. "A fashion show in Paris, while France and its capital are bereaved and bruised, seems... inconsiderate and totally misplaced," Slimane wrote in French on...

Fashion

Couture week comes to Paris amid riot fears

The fashion world is on edge as haute couture week kicks off on Monday in Paris, which has seen nights of violent riots over the police killing of a teenager. French label Celine cancelled its menswear show -- scheduled outside the official calendar -- on Sunday due to the riots, with designer Hedi Slimane saying it was "inconsiderate" to hold a...

Fashion

Valentino to stage AW23/24 haute couture show in France’s Château de Chantilly

Italian luxury house Valentino is continuing to mix up the fashion week calendar, now revealing that it will be staging its haute couture autumn/winter 2023/24 show in Château de Chantilly in France. The event will take place on July 5 during Haute Couture Week, when creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli will unveil the brand’s latest collection....