Couture Fashion Week is back and I can think of no better way to kick the January blues. Held in Paris, this biannual event is the pinnacle of luxury fashion, it’s where the world’s most exclusive fashion houses showcase their artistry and innovation at its highest level. This season, has brought a mix of avant-garde with timeless elegance.
Jean Paul Gaultier
For Spring/Summer 2025, Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture collection was guest designed by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Titled ‘Le Naufrage’ the collection is an opulent ode to fashion’s theatrical possibilities. Ludovic brings his raw yet refined aesthetic to Gaultier’s world, transforming the runway into a fever dream of doomed romance and unrelenting passion.
Models emerge on the runway like shipwrecked souls washed ashore, clad in tattered silks, drenched brocades, and corsetry that clings to the body like second skin. Every look tells a story—as couture should be.
Among the many standout looks is a single-shouldered slip dress in nude stretch tulle, hand-embroidered with effet mouillé ‘volcanic sand’ crystal beading. Accessorised with
a mooring rope woven from silk thread and 50,000 weathered brass ‘pearls’.
A corsetted notch-lapel tailcoat in moulded anthracite latex ‘crocodile skin’ with the beast’s tail intact, worn with capri pants and point-toed stiletto-heeled boots. An off-shoulder trained gown in stiff black silk tulle, worn beneath a black satin duchesse-wrapped corset cage embroidered with tonal ostrich feathers.
The final look was worn by Angelina Kendall, who floated down the runway in a corset and panier embroidered with goose and ostrich feathers, worn over a mermaid skirt in ivory silk tulle.
A proud exhibition of the peerless savoir-faire to which 325 Rue Saint Martin is a longstanding home, this collection is also a toast to the countless worlds and characters that have been brought to life there. It embraces the frenzy of playfulness, whimsy, opulence, sex, chaos, and camp that defines Jean Paul Gaultier.
Viktor & Rolf
One look, 24 different ways. That is the genius that was presented to us in the Viktor&Rolf Spring/Summer 2025 collection at couture fashion week. Variations of a single outfit: a beige trench, a white shirt, and blue pair of pants graced the runway while paying homage to couture’s traditions and history.
At the heart of the collection is silk gazar from RuTo Coli, an exquisite fabric choice that nods to the house’s 1999 ‘Blacklight’ collection that was crafted entirely from the final rolls of silk gazar developed by Balenciaga. This luxurious Italian silk, meticulously transformed through a range of complex techniques, serves as the canvas for Viktor & Rolf’s couture collection.
The collection unfolds across 24 meticulously crafted looks, each a distinctive reimagination of the core ensemble. Contrasts abound: long vs. short, daywear vs. eveningwear, pristine vs. crumpled, minimal vs. baroque.House codes such as ruffles and bows are revisited in bold, almost exaggerated forms, amplifying Viktor & Rolf’s signature blend of theatricality and refinement.
A notable subversion of couture traditions lies in the presentation itself. An AI-generated voice introduces each look, a nod to the evolving relationship between fashion and technology. The models, clad in custom brown satin heels and flats by Christian Louboutin, glide down the runway adorned with vintage jewellry curated by Droomfabriek Amsterdam.
Gaurav Gupta
A highlight of couture fashion week, Gaurav Gupta’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection, Across the Flame, is a deeply personal and evocative exploration of resilience, transformation, and cosmic rebirth. Inspired by a near-fatal accident that profoundly shaped both Gaurav and his life partner, Navkirat Sodhi, this collection serves as an artistic testament to the transcendence of spirit through adversity. Infused with the concept of Astral Projection, the collection takes viewers on a mystical journey, where fashion becomes a conduit for healing and enlightenment.
The Twin Flame ensemble, rendered in a striking ochre hue, emerges as a centerpiece of the collection, symbolising transformation through fire. Gaurav’s signature sculptural craftsmanship reaches new heights this season, with midnight blue metal breastplates evoking both strength and vulnerability— a poetic armour against the trials of existence. For the first time, denim makes its way into the couturier’s repertoire with the Bucket Corset and Distressed Bucket Jacket.
Meticulous embellishments amplify the collection’s ethereal essence. Over 20,000 Preciosa crystals shimmer across key pieces, adding a celestial dimension to garments that already feel otherworldly. New embroidery techniques involving raffia, micro pearls, and ghungroo bells introduce layers of texture and movement, reinforcing the spiritual depth of the designs. The colour palette, spanning ochre, twilight purple, and space blue, harmonizes beautifully with Gupta’s signature metallics, black, and ivory tones
Beyond garments, the collection expands into the realm of sculptural jewellry, with standout pieces such as the Chakra Earring, Infinity Ear Cuff, and Bahu Mudra Ring. Designed in collaboration with Object & Dawn, these pieces embody the collection’s avant-garde and celestial inspirations, seamlessly integrating wearable art into the narrative of transformation. René Caovilla heels complete the ensembles, further elevating their dreamlike allure.
Giorgio Armani Privé
Giorgio Armani Privé’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection is a luminous ode to global elegance, where fashion becomes a vessel for cultural synthesis and personal storytelling. With an ethereal touch, the collection bridges the intangible and the material, weaving together influences from across continents into a wardrobe for the modern woman.
Light itself is the guiding force behind the collection, moving fluidly across fabrics, embroidery, and shimmering embellishments. Delicate brushstrokes of cultural inspiration paint the garments—watercolour-like Polynesian landscapes, the shapes and colours of China, the regal opulence of India, the refined elegance of Japan, and the decorum of North Africa. These elements come together in a tapestry of exquisite craftsmanship.
Speaking of exquisite craftsmanship, Armani’s ability to craft the most beautifully intricate, ethereal couture dresses, that are still highly wearable should be studied. This season, embellishments elevate the garments, stones seem to emerge naturally from the fabrics, while crystals refract light like fragments of a dream. Handcrafted embroidery, particularly the intricate patchwork inspired by Indian motifs, underscores the depth of artisanship in each piece.
Silhouettes remain true to Armani’s essence: streamlined yet sensual. Small cropped jackets, long fluid dresses, and tailored masculine blazers form a balanced interplay between structure and grace. The colour palette transitions seamlessly from soft golds and greiges to bursts of amaranth, bronze, and deep blue.
Giambattista Valli
One thing you can always count on Giambattista Valli for is that he is always going to bring the drama – which is exactly what we want to see at couture fashion week! This season, the designer once again delivered with an array of fantastical over-the-top silhouettes. Standouts being a red rose gown composed on silk faille, a column dress in red silk crepe with a “pouf” skirt and ivory silk faille hood, and the ‘Venus’ dress, crafted on pink silk chiffon and adorned with bows.
There was also a collection of coats entirely embroidered with silk organza leaves and peonies, in colour-blocking hues of ruby, fuchsia, peridot, teal, clementine, and peach.
More Couture Fashion Week:
Couture Fashion Week AW24: The Highlights
Schiaparelli Couture Spring Summer 2024 Collection
12 Best Looks From Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Fall 2023
Christian Dior
For the Dior spring-summer 2025 haute couture collection is an exercise in sartorial time travel—an exploration of fashion as an eternal, ever-transforming entity. Maria Grazia Chiuri drew inspiration from past silhouettes, particularly the Trapèze line conceived for Dior in 1958 by Yves Saint Laurent. This collection reinterprets historical elements through a contemporary lens, creating garments that exist in a dreamlike space between past and future.
The lace-trimmed tulle culottes serve as a nostalgic whisper, evoking childhood innocence and fluid femininity, while the crinolines—reimagined for modern practicality— transform wearers into ethereal beings suspended between history and fantasy.
Chiuri’s ability to balance grandeur with innovation is particularly evident in her reinterpretation of Dior’s iconic silhouettes. The Cigale silhouette, originally designed by Christian Dior for the autumn-winter 1952-1953 haute couture line, is revived in moiré fabrics and adopted for a little skirt paired with a fitted tailcoat. Meanwhile, the cape—a Dior hallmark—is elevated with organza feathers, reinforcing the collection’s exploration of transformation and self-expression.
Black, ever a symbol of sophistication, dominates the coats, structuring the collection with an air of quiet drama. And in a moment of sheer opulence, a long gown shimmers with three-dimensional burnished silver embroidery, encapsulating the surreal beauty at the heart of Chiuri’s vision.
Schiaparelli
With each Schiaparelli couture show, Daniel Roseberry continues to solidify his reputation for brilliance, and his latest collection might just be his most impressive yet. Titled Icarus, after the Greek mythological figure who perished by flying too close to the sun, the collection opened the spring/summer 2025 couture season with a bold statement. While Icarus’s tale is often seen as a cautionary story about ambition and risk, Roseberry transforms these qualities into a source of creative power. Known for his fearless approach to design, he proves once again that taking risks can yield extraordinary rewards.
In the show notes, Roseberry highlights the collection’s diverse inspirations, which span from the snaky, curvy forms of the 1920s and 1930s to the second golden age of Haute Couture,
the 1950s. This influence is evident in the reimagined 1950s silhouettes, now given bold new proportions. For example, an A-line baby doll dress has been reinterpreted with dropped hips, padded to mirror the shape of the bust.
Key looks include a bustier dress in butter satin with contrasting nude tulle, an off-the-shoulder bustier dress in ecru Chantilly lace embroidered with organza and enamel flowers, and an exaggerated off-the-shoulder jacket in pearl grey stripes of velvet embroidery with tonal and ivory rhinestones and pearls.
Alex Consani swept through the show in an embroidered opera coat, trimmed with ostrich feathers. It was worn over a sand-coloured double satin column skirt and a mink-coloured ostrich feathered bra. Mona Tougaard wore a dropped ball gown with a nude satin base and a black tulle overlay enhanced with a twisted volume at the bottom. While Kendall Jenner, donned a strapless corset dress in nude mesh with exaggerated hips, embellished with draped pearl grey duchesse satin and embroidered with flowers and the Maison’s emblematic codes.
