Paris Couture Fashion Week: A celebration of haute couture’s boundless creativity

The 2025 Haute Couture season saw an extraordinary convergence of craftsmanship, storytelling, and cultural exploration, with designers pushing the boundaries of sartorial art. From Dior’s dreamlike reawakening to Valentino’s thought-provoking narrative journey and Armani Privé’s shimmering global odyssey, each collection stood as a unique testament to the evolving art of couture.

Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior Spring-Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection transported us into a realm between past and future, where time seemed to stand still. Drawing inspiration from Yves Saint Laurent’s 1958 Trapèze line and the Cigale silhouette, the show was a beautiful blend of nostalgia and transformation. The pieces evoked dresses beneath which the body could disappear, with crinolines and extravagant floral embroidery creating a delicate balance between fantasy and reality. Following the show, an exhibition of artwork by Rithika Merchant, transformed into textile panels by Karishma Swali, captivated the audience, adding a profound artistic dimension to the collection.

 Valentino

Alessandro Michele’s debut couture show for Valentino, Vertigineux, marked the beginning of a new era for the House, with an awe-inspiring collection that blurred the lines between couture and art. Inspired by Umberto Eco’s theory of 'the list', Michele created a poetic narrative, where each of the 48 looks was more than just a garment—it was a living, breathing work of art. The collection’s use of extravagant proportions, rich textures, and intricate embroidery pulled references from baroque opulence and pre-Raphaelite fantasies, culminating in a dizzying sensory experience that felt like stepping into a surreal dreamscape.

Chanel

Chanel’s Spring-Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection, under the direction of Virginie Viard, paid tribute to the timeless color palette that Gabrielle Chanel herself once used to revolutionize fashion. The collection unfolded in a progression from dawn to night, with soft pastels giving way to deeper, more vivid hues. The iconic tweeds were reimagined with an exquisite play on proportions and a masterful use of embroidery, resulting in garments that felt both ethereal and incredibly sophisticated. The delicate fabrics and intricate details showcased the technical brilliance of Chanel Haute Couture, while also paying homage to its history and legacy.

Schiaparelli

Daniel Roseberry’s Schiaparelli Spring-Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection, Icarus, fused historical references with modern sensibilities, creating a striking vision of sartorial fantasy. The collection was born from the discovery of antique ribbons from the 1920s and 1930s, which inspired the use of colors such as saffron, peacock green, and “mink.” The silhouettes ranged from curvaceous 1920s-inspired forms to the structured elegance of the 1950s. The collection also experimented with textures and techniques, creating garments that felt both futuristic and nostalgic, with every piece a meticulously crafted work of art.

Armani Privé

 Giorgio Armani’s Lumières collection for Spring-Summer 2025 Haute Couture captured the immaterial essence of light as it transcended cultures, landscapes, and time periods. The collection celebrated the wardrobe of a modern woman who has internalized the beauty of her global travels. Armani’s design language fused references to the landscapes of China, Polynesia, India, Japan, and Northern Africa with soft, watercolor-inspired prints and handcrafted embroideries. The silhouettes, from cropped jackets to long, fluid dresses, were an embodiment of both strength and grace, bathed in a shimmering light that transcended reality, creating a timeless vision of delicate opulence.