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LUXE TREND 36
HAUTE COUTURE - IN THE ERA OF DISRUPTION

There was a time in the 1970s when the death knell was sounding for Haute Couture. Ready-to-Wear had conquered the market as innovations in distribution and the overall availability of designer clothes stole the fashion thunder away from Haute Couture. It took Yves St. Laurent with his Chinese and Russian collections in 1978 - and Lagerfeld later in the 1980s with Chanel - to reinvigorate the relevance of HC once again.

Fast forward to 2017, and with Haute Couture week over in Paris, we have been asking the question once again: is Haute Couture approaching a new identity crisis? Did exuberant and over-budgeted presentations serve their purpose of delivering memorable collections? In today’s turbulent fashion landscape, how are Haute Couture Houses balance the need to produce fashion excitement that could fuel brand loyalty?

Thanks to YouTube and to the marketing departments of the major Couture houses, the feats of engineering of Haute Couture garments are available to an audience who can appreciate the creativity and ingenuity of each atelier. As an antithesis to the nature of the art of Haute Couture that is passed down through traditional means, the open availability of these videos has ensured that miraculous techniques are visible to the interested public. The larger houses have been creating videos promoting the technical virtuosity of their workshops whose technicians have spent years mastering an individual skill. These videos and are now part of the promotion of each collection. In our age, is marketing enough to save the art of Haute Couture?

The luxury consumer expects to be pampered at every point of their experience. Independently of offering prestige and the potential of collectability through design and workmanship, Haute Couture Houses are late in considering how innovations in customer service and customer interaction impact overall brand experience. It is in these important areas where disruption is happening in Fashion.

Haute Couture is a prime laboratory for innovative visuals. As the definition of luxury is changing daily it is clear that a polished image is no longer enough. The brand advocate is not necessarily an actual customer. She may be a Follower, a Retweeter, a Subscriber, and, most likely, all the above. According to a recent article on Luxury Daily: “As luxury proliferates, consumer attitudes toward the industry are moving away from a product-focused view to using luxury as a means of expressing an identity.”

Working with that premise in mind, the list of Houses that appear poised for growth in - and through - Haute Couture is significantly reduced. In examining the trends for the current season, we look at the latest collections through that particular lens.

Chanel - There is so much beauty in each Chanel HC collection. Even though the Métiers d’Art collections seem to be better edited, KL still continues to assemble a remarkable presentation that truly showcases what the extent of the house’s capability. The presentations extend outward from the Haute Couture show to include an Haute Joaillerie collection (more on that in the next issue of Luxe Trends), makeup colors, accessories, etc. What supports this universe of creativity is an extensive video library that explains in great style the Chanel Universe and allows the customer to feel distinctly privileged.
 
At Chanel, the winter coat is making a comeback in serious tweed, with precision-sculpted sleeves, and long jackets reminiscent of the 1910s, one might say similar to Paul Poiret’s silhouette and in homage to Gabrielle. Lagerfeld stayed away from much artifice, preferring instead to concentrate on cut. It is hard to imagine the couture customer going wild for the hats that accompanied almost all exits.?

Valentino - Where Chanel is the queen of consistency in customer engagement, it is Valentino who rules Social Media. They were one of the first shows to adopt new tech to broadcast all fashion shows and their Instagram feed is a constant reminder that the founder’s love affair with international society continues unabated as a string of the brand’s DNA.
 
In this collection, evening wear reigned supreme. This is the house where one garment can take thousands of hours to create and becomes a testament to each worker’s devotion to their art. The subtle effects achieved by lace appliqués, pleated fabrics, and an extraordinary color palette allowed Pierpaolo Piccioli to finally abscond from his favorite ecclesiastical garment inspirations of past collections

Fendi - Back in Rome, Silvia Venturini Fendi has been busy challenging the status quo through a fearless series of collections, the latest one in Haute Fourrure. SVF indeed invents fabric out of pieces of fur, some of impossibly small size. The finished results are a pointillist fantasy that transcends fashion definition in this millennium. Clearly, it has been helpful being guided by a design visionary as Karl Lagerfeld, but it is becoming clear that it is SVF who is willing to expand the house’s expertise in materials. 
 
This was a multi-colored, multi-material and multimedia collection, fearless in its exuberance. The trend here is one of colorful youthful luxe maximalism.

Iris van Herpen - In terms of material experimentation, Iris van Herpen is a pioneer. This Dutch designer is the Zaha Hadid of fashion. Unencumbered by a supporting house with a mythic past, IvH can innovate in ways that only her young clientele can truly appreciate. This is a designer who effortlessly expresses the connections between Interactivity, Modern Art, and Fashion. Each show is a small art happening, and this year was no exception; IvH employed Between Music, a five-piece group from Denmark that plays instruments and sings submerged in water tanks. In this environment, 3D printed, heat bonded and sculpted creations continued the designer’s explorations into fluid dynamics, volume control, and scientific questioning, writ in fashion form.