The Paris Accord: Highlights from Couture Week

Chanel, Lacroix, Givenchy, Armani Oh My!

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This week’s Fall 08 Paris Couture shows included red carpet mainstays Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy and the hotly anticipated Armani Prive.

With the house of Yves Saint Laurent no longer in the business of haute couture, and the cult of Valentino in the hands of the untested Alessandra Facchinetti, the void of discreet atelier decadence has never seemed deeper.

Thanks goodness for Giorgio. Armani, who this week received the Légion d’Honneur from the French president himself, released his Armani’s Privé haute couture collection last Monday. And it was everything the well-heeled woman could conceivably want in her wardrobe. In the discerning crowd were the likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Zhang Ziyi and Princesse de Savoie Clotilde Courau.

Armani, marking 35 years as a designer and couturier, revisited many of the signature silhouettes over the course of 52 looks. ShoeMinx adores the couture shoes from this week’s Armani Prive showcase.

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The Chanel show was a beautifully structured collection in shades of gray, black, and white. Sinuous cocktail dresses in pewter silk featured elaborate pin-tuck details at waist and shoulder to add a “twin-turbo” effect to the silhouette. ShoeMinx would love to see Gwyneth Paltrow in this dress in IRON MAN 2. It’s so very prim and Space Age proper Pepper Potts!

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 Here’s a detail shot of the sublime heel:

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 Only a colorist and a romantic like Christian Lacroix could find so much variation in black. The collection presented itself as a contemporary twist on a Velasquez painting — with black in shiny and matte fabrics, paired with dark navy, and often injected with a burst of color.

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Lacroix also took a painterly approach to pairing contemporary bold tights with his empire-inspired shoes…

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As for Givenchy, the designer took his collection into the high heartland of Peru, where he created a landscape of Machu Picchu colors of tobacco brown and stony beige. A young, urban take on chic dressing, punctuated with intense shots of decorative impulse.

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July 4, 2008 | Filed Under Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy | Leave a Comment 



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