The Designer Sarah Burton Boosts the Elegance at Givenchy in Paris

Coinciding with Taylor Swift, designer Sarah Burton entered her Showgirl era. During her second presentation as the creative director of Givenchy, Burton amplified the drama with collars embellished with shimmering stones across the collarbone area, opulent peach-toned feather accents, a sleek and short cocktail dress in lipstick red leather, and Naomi Campbell in a tailored tuxedo blazer left open over a barely-there lace trim bra.

Establishing a Fresh Direction

Burton has been at Givenchy under a year, but the former key collaborator at McQueen has already established a distinctive character for the brand and for herself. The Givenchy fashion house, the legendary domain of the actress Audrey Hepburn and the classic LBD, has an immaculate bloodline of sophistication that runs from Paris to Hollywood, but it is a relative minnow as a business. Her recent predecessors had mostly leaned into streetwear and practical metallic details, but Burton is reviving the sophistication.

"The goal was to create something seductive and intimate and to expose flesh," Burton noted after the show. "In efforts to empower women, we often turn to masculine elements, but I wanted to look at feminine sensibility, and the process of adorning and revealing."

Subtle seduction was evident, too, in a formal shirt in smooth white leather. "Every woman is different," Burton stated. "Sometimes when I’m casting, a model dons a look and I can just tell that she prefers not to wear heels. Thus, I modify the ensemble."

Red Carpet Revival

Givenchy is reaffirming its position in celebrity event attire. Burton has dressed Timothée Chalamet in a soft yellow tuxedo at the Oscar ceremony, and Kaia Gerber in a vintage-feel ballerina gown of dark lace at the Venice film festival.

Schiaparelli’s Artistic Comeback

The fashion house Schiaparelli, the avant-garde design house, has been making a comeback under the American designer Daniel Roseberry. The following year, the V&A Museum will host the inaugural UK Schiaparelli showcase, looking at the work of the founder Elsa Schiaparelli and the fashion house she established.

"Acquiring Schiaparelli is not about buying, it becomes a collection," Roseberry remarked backstage.

Women who wear Schiaparelli don’t need an exhibition to tell them that these clothes are art. Art-adjacency is good for the bottom line – garments carry art gallery price tags, with blazers beginning around £5,000. And profits, as well as reputation, is increasing. The location of the presentation was the Centre Pompidou in the French capital, another reminder of how close this house sits with art.

Returning to Historic Partnerships

Roseberry recalled one of the most renowned partnerships of Elsa with Salvador Dalí, the 1938 "Tears" gown which is set to feature in the V&A exhibition. "This focused on going back to the roots of the brand," he explained.

The shredded details in the initial design were carefully rendered, but for the contemporary take Roseberry cut into the crepe silk itself. In both designs, the rips are eerily suggestive of skinned skin.

Surreal Elements and Menacing Charm

A touch of threat is present at the Schiaparelli brand – The founder called her mannequins, with their sharp shoulders and nipped-in waists, as her miniature army – as well as a gleeful delight in a joke. Fingernail-inspired fasteners and metallic nose ornaments as earrings are the distinctive language of the label. The standout feature of this event: fake fur crafted from paintbrushes.

Avant-garde themes emerge throughout contemporary fashion. Cracked-egg heels – navigating delicately, understand? – were highly sought-after at the brand Loewe. Dalí-inspired melting clocks have graced the runway at Moschino. But Schiaparelli leads in this area, and Roseberry presides over it.

"Garments from Schiaparelli possess an extreme drama which sucks the air out of the room," he stated. A scarlet ensemble was sliced with a triangular panel of skin-colored netting that rested around the area a pair of knickers should, in a startling illusion of nudity. The tension between wearability and theatre is all part of the show.

American Creatives in the French Capital

A carousel of creative director launches has brought two darlings of New York to the French fashion world. Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have departed from their Proenza Schouler label they established in 2002 to helm Loewe, the Spain-based leather label that evolved into a $1.5 billion powerhouse under the direction of Jonathan Anderson before he moved to Dior.

The Americans looked delighted to be in the City of Light. Vibrant Ellsworth Kelly hues brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the in-the-know art smarts for which Loewe is currently known. Bright yellow loafers swayed their tassels like the fringe of Baker's costume; a red peplum jacket had the bold reflective shapes of a condiment vessel. And a cocktail dress masquerading as a recently used bath sheet, fluffy as a freshly laundered bath sheet, found the perfect balance where smart creation blends with sartorial amusement.