Haute Couture Week: Dior Haute Couture goes back to basics

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Haute Couture Week is now underway in the French capital. Christian Dior presented a deliberately paired-down collection, Giambattista Valli brought an air of youthfulness to his new couture collection, while Iris van Herpen looks to the skies for her latest haute couture collection. Let's take a look at the fashion on the runway.

Christian Dior paid tribute to the skills of its ateliers at its Haute Couture runway show on Monday, as models in pale, minimalistic gowns glided through an all-white showroom-turned-catwalk lined with mannequins.

A palette of powdery colours dominated the looks, with some gowns in dusty pink evoking soft ballerina costumes, in a collection that designer Maria Grazia Chiuri described as a focus on craft over flashy fashion.

The surrounding mannequins, stacked to the ceiling and wearing prototypes of dresses, added a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes feel of the show.

MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI DIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR "We are in this time where the idea of couture sometimes is wrong because people believe that couture is expensive so it has to be visible. We have to try to explain that couture is another story."

French avant-grade painter Francis Picabia provided the inspiration for Giambattista Valli's Fall/Winter 2018 couture collection.

Valli thought about the free-spirited girls in Picabia's life and created a dramatic collection rich with volumes, textures and colors.

The show was a visual cornucopia - feathers and bows, veils and long trains, black and white suddenly giving way to fuchsia, and ruffled dresses alternating with rock 'n' roll sequin suits.

To anyone who believes couture is in trouble, Valli responded he has more youthful customers than ever before, who wear it as easily as they wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI DESIGNER "Today I have a lot of young customers buying haute couture and I love the idea to give something that is (youthful) and cool."

Dutch designer Iris van Herpen's "Syntopia" show was inspired by the flight of birds and their movement across time and space.

IRIS VAN HERPEN DESIGNER "I looked at bird flight and how, for example, a wing is moving within a few seconds. The installation that you will see during the show represents the movement of the bird in an abstract way and the same movement is also coming back in the collection."

To create the collection, the designer combined traditional weaving with modern techniques, such as laser cutting. Corset dresses were made from layers of silk and acrylic to mimic the layering of a bird's feather.

Serving as a backdrop to the collection was an installation of 20 delicate glass wings, designed by artists Studio Drift. The artwork "flew" in sync with the models as they walked the runway.