Ahead of his sophomore couture show in Paris, Dutch designer Peet Dullaert was thinking about natural beauty.
“When you choose to dress a certain way, isn’t that natural beauty? That’s how you want to look,” he mused backstage.
And to him an essential part of this is being at ease in your clothes as well as your skin. “In my opinion, the job of couture is just exploring possibilities of that architectural approach to clothing, which in the end for me is always defined by comfort,” he continued. “It’s the best gift you can give yourself.”
Building on last season, the couture designer continued with the idea of working with the body rather than against it, elaborating further on structured jackets, craft-intensive knit pieces and curve-hugging dresses in a cohesive lineup.
Among the standouts were a beaded black dress that looked like it had been spliced with a blazer at the neckline; a fitted sleeveless vest with flourishes at the shoulder that resembled a puff sleeve but also the inner construction of a sleeve, and a column dress that appeared as if a bolt of yellow silk had just been wrapped haphazardly, until you saw the little corset closure at the back.
Elsewhere, Dullaert continued to experiment with Tencel Luxe, now available as a crêpe de chine. He enthused about its quality, noting that it was even more beautiful in his eyes because of its sustainable credentials.
Dullaert further cemented the idea of his work being for every body through his casting. The show opened with Danielle Slavik, who was a house model for Cristóbal Balenciaga from 1964 until the couturier’s 1968 retirement. Later on came friends of the house, including dancer Marco Bozzato and fashion consultant Syra Schenk.
“This is for me what fashion really is about,” he said. “It’s really that expression of individuality, next to the clothing, that doesn’t need to fit a certain narrative.”