Opinion | Style Check: reviews from Paris Haute Couture fashion week

SCHIAPARELLI

The big headliner was the much anticipated revival of the house of Schiaparelli. Founded by Coco Chanel’s arch rival, couturier Elsa Schiaparelli, who counted Giacometti and Salvidor Dali as friends and influences, the label’s resurrection is now under the helm of Marco Zanini. The debut collection had editors talking for the whole of Haute Couture week.

Mixing Parisian craft (see the featherwork and handcraft materials) with a cool, individual sense of dishabille – led to a result that was an astonishing, quirky, beautiful take on couture. Unlike Versace, which was all about one kind of woman, Schiaparelli’s outfits were about many. Irreverence was the key word as Zanini continued on the spirit of non-conformity the house was known for.

However, in the modern day, this translated to masculine tailoring mixed with liquid feminine draping in swarths of silk charmeuse. Ostrich and rooster feathers adorned accessories, and jewellery nodded to the surreal and sublime - see the jewel green ivy cuff climbing up the model’s entire forearm. Hand painted prints from the brand’s archives tied the modern collection neatly to Schiaparelli’s 1920s and 30s heyday.

CHRISTIAN DIOR