Light and stars: highlights from haute couture week

Paris - Paris haute couture week, which concludes on Thursday, delivered several memorable moments. From a luminous mini-dress to fully reversible pieces and the presence of stars like Bad Bunny and Pedro Pascal, here are five key highlights.

Luminous attire

With its green tones inlaid with fine, luminous branches, Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen presented a sparkling mini-dress.

This surprising look, named Fractal Universe, contained no LEDs or other lighting devices. Instead, it was "charged" in a particle accelerator in the days leading up to the show. This process transformed the dress into an energy reservoir with billions of trapped electrons, the artist explained.

Before the show, the garment began to discharge, and the luminous branches gradually spread across its surface.

"For years, the idea of creating a garment woven purely from energy has appealed to me. We have shaped haute couture from solids, liquids, living matter and even gas. This is the first time we have worked with the fourth state of matter, plasma," she commented on social media.

Botanical inspiration

The two most watched houses of the week, Chanel and Dior, presented collections largely inspired by nature. Their silhouettes were filled with botanical details.

At Chanel, Matthieu Blazy referenced famous tales like "Jack and the Beanstalk" in his looks. These included a dress adorned with embroidered climbing plants and an ensemble covered in black butterflies.

Jonathan Anderson, artistic director at Dior, also included natural motifs in his proposal, such as embroidered flowers on a green pleated look.

"All these botanical allusions are closely linked to Christian Dior's passion for gardens, even back then," explained Pierre Groppo, fashion and lifestyle editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair France, to AFP.

Vice-versa

"Why should a garment remain static? How can we make it more alive? What if each creation contained its own metamorphosis?": Alexis Mabille continues to question the codes of fashion.

On Tuesday, the French designer presented his "Dual" collection, which plays on reversals and inversions.

Heavy black velvet coats or sheaths were instantly transformed into gold or silver dresses. Sometimes, pulling a single thread was enough to switch from right side to wrong side, from shadow to light, with all models being reversible.

Indian tradition

The official haute couture week schedule included two Indian designers, Rahul Mishra and Manish Malhotra, whose proposals generated significant buzz.

Rahul Mishra drew inspiration from the Ajanta Caves, artificial Buddhist caves located in the state of Maharashtra, for his collection. It featured richly adorned sculptural silhouettes in shades of grey.

Manish Malhotra paid tribute to motherhood with dresses featuring relief figures of mothers and children.

These designers bring a vision from elsewhere, explains Pierre Groppo. "They each have worlds that are deeply imbued with their Indian culture."

Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal...

Many female stars, from rapper Cardi B to actress Cate Blanchett, typically attend haute couture shows. This time, major male names were also spotted in the audience.

Singer Bad Bunny was in the front row at the Schiaparelli show, dressed in a pastel yellow suit and a gold braid-shaped tie.

At the Chanel show, actor Pedro Pascal was seen in a white ensemble and a marinière sweater.

At Dior, Josh O'Connor appeared in a fluid suit from the house, presented in Paris a few days earlier.

"Haute couture is taking an interest in, looking towards men," notes Pierre Groppo, highlighting the previously unusual presence of these figures.

He believes there is perhaps "a desire to also speak to an audience that goes beyond traditional female clients".