
The Spring/Summer season is always a test for designers of haute couture. They must direct their talent, research and craftsmanship towards the ultimate lightness (or legereté) in their hand-crafted, bespoke creations, while losing none of the luxuries of exquisite fabrics and embroideries for which haute couture is revered. Last week in Paris, the Spring 2014 shows saw designers take this challenge and run with it, with couturiers like Raf Simons at Christian Dior and Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel (pictured) breaking the institutional expectations of couture to deliver collections injected with ideas of youth and speed (even sneakers!), with embellishments both hidden and technical as opposed to ostentatious and overtly-handmade. That said, there are two sides to today's couture story and new designers like Ulyana Sergeenko and Giambattista Valli (having now shown his sixth collection) are still making a case for a return to opulence.
Photography: Benoît Peverelli