"I am Naomi Campbell and I declare fashion week in Paris open". It was from her sofa this Monday at 9 a.m. that the British top-model officially launched the first Paris Haute Couture Week.
In a video of approximately 2 minutes, Campbell devoted his speech to the “fight for equality and diversity”, quoting Nelson Mandela and the Black Lives Matter movement. The actress invited the fashion industry to include minorities and to represent them as well as possible.
@Naomi Campbell opens the #HauteCoutureOnline
Join us on https://t.co/UNiUY8h46z pic.twitter.com/MAVwEODl9N
From this Monday until Wednesday, the Haute Couture Fall Winter 20-21 Week takes place online without audiences or paparazzi. It will be followed by Men's Fashion Week. Each house on the official calendar will unveil its collection with a video broadcast live during its time slot. For the first time, the general public therefore discovers one of the most select events on the planet, but from a distance. The videos will be available on the website of the Haute Couture and Fashion Federation, an immersive experience in the fashion world.
Virtual fashion: from imagination to history
At 10 am, the house of Schiaparelli opened the ball of virtual "parades". Without a new collection this season, Schiaparelli presented a three-minute short film showing the artistic director, Daniel Roseberry. Sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park in New York, where he was stranded during confinement, he sketches what he calls an “imaginary collection”.
“The pandemic has turned everything upside down. Now, instead of a team to run this collection, I just have my own imagination. Instead of Place Vendôme in Paris, it was designed and sketched on a park bench, ”explains Roseberry in a press release.
Maison Schiaparelli was followed by presentations by Maisons Ulyana Seergenko, Iris Van Herpen, Maurizio Galante and one of the most anticipated of the day: Dior, from the LVMH group (also owner of the Les Echos - Le Parisien group).
The starting point of the Dior collection was the historical post-war exhibition of the Fashion Theater, which covered continental Europe and the United States from 1945 to 1946. The living room was known to present dolls like models dressed in designs by the best seamstresses and Parisian artists, in order to maintain the flame of know-how and sewing, even when materials were scarce and the economy in tatters. Today, this message is even stronger for Dior and its haute couture workshop, the fashion houses recovering from the consequences of the closure of Covid-19.
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The house of Dior illustrated the history of its collection in a video of around 15 minutes. A short film by Matteo Garrone, director of Pinocchio, Dogman and Gomorra who were awarded at Cannes.
Dior I love how they presented haute couture really originality even in addition the design of the clothes is incredible
- l é aa (@l_bv__) July 6, 2020What did the fans think? Gwendal, a fashion enthusiast, was "very surprised" by the visuals on the design of the dresses. “It's a different approach. I loved seeing the seamstresses working on the models and all the creative side that it brings, ”he says. Jenner, a fashion blogger, joins him: "I think it unlocks a little bit of the soul of each signature". Among the other satisfactions, the message of inclusion, support for anti-racist movements and the fact that "for once, these events are accessible to everyone on the Internet", even if celebrities and applause may have been missed by some.
During women's ready-to-wear in September, there could be a return to physical fashion shows. But given the persistent threat of the resurgence of the virus, homes will likely have to change the way they display their clothes. Parisian houses may have to rent larger spaces to comply with social distancing rules or reduce the size of the public.
