Paris Haute Couture Week: How to blend sports with fashion

With the Paris Olympics 2024 starting 24 July, designers, who participated in the recently concluded haute couture week in the French city, couldn’t help but look at fashion with a sports lens.

Thom Browne, for instance, reimagined an Olympics ceremony for his couture presentation on the first day of the Week (24 June), sending out an array of richly beaded jackets in gold, silver and bronze.

Maria Grazia Chiuri at Christian Dior also paid a tribute to athletes who, from antiquity to the present times, have battled several kinds of prejudice and hurdles to achieve the recognition they deserve. Her gold, silver and bronze sequined draped dresses, especially, stood out. Also worth mentioning is the football jersey gown at Balenciaga.

Here are some key trends that emerged at the Paris Haute Couture Week:

Sporty chic

Always rooting for freedom and empowerment, Chiuri showcased glistening bodysuits and tank top dresses accented with Roman drapes, evoking a sense of tough and spirited femininity. Using jersey, an unexpected textile choice for couture, she proposed a structured yet fluid wardrobe crafted in metal mesh in shades of gold, silver and white.

Browne’s showcase made for a fine study, as he presented gold bullion embroideries of athletes on an hourglass jacket and a bustier dress. They displayed the muscular system in blood-red beads on one side and pleated and tucked muslin on the other, making a connection between athletes and couture’s artisans.

Trompe l’œil shines

Rahul Mishra, Thom Browne and Schiaparelli created three dimensional pieces, which tricked the eye of the onlooker. For instance, Mishra took a departure from his signature bloom and foliage embroideries and explored the concept of “aura”, a sort of an electromagnetic field enveloping living bodies. To fashion the shape of the aura and its multiple concentric, undulating layers, Mishra’s atelier employed tulle and chiffon besides beads, evoking mystery and allure.

Shoes at Browne’s show, meanwhile, were meant to mimic the shape of a sprinter’s foot in the starting blocks. The Schiaparelli show saw creative director Daniel Roseberry presenting a version of the Schiaparelli shoe hat: the shoe corset.

Exaggerated sleeves

Trust Mishra to cast a spell with his gravity-defying silhouettes and shapes which are light as a feather but take hours and hours of exquisite craftsmanship to come to life. This season, his 3D embroidery radiated self awareness along with an array of beads and crystals, which lent gravitas to his monumental, museum-worthy dresses. At Schiaparelli, Roseberry’s opening cape featured pronounced shoulders of an eagle which was peppered with silver lozenge embroidery. It was surrealism at its best.

Unapologetic shine

Armani Privé presented a series of red carpet-worthy garments, all exquisitely beaded with luminous pearls. A strapless dress with a square bodice encrusted with crystals and beads was the high point. So was a noir velvet double breasted ankle-length coat dotted with pearls and crystals.

Elie Saab was generous too, when it came to the sprinkling of moonlight silver sequins on his sheer chiffon and organza red carpet contenders.

Cascading capes

Giambattista Valli, Chanel and Alexis Mabille brought the collective couture focus on the floor-sweeping capes and trains. Chanel’s opening look seen on the house muse, model Vittoria Ceretti, was a sweeping opera cape in black taffeta. Jean Paul Gaultier’s last look was also a dramatic veiled ensemble in beige created by the brand’s collaborator this season, designer Nicolas Di Felice.