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Somewhere in the world women wear sweeping tulle dresses, bespoke suits and hand-embroidered robes.
At least that's what designer Giambattista Valli suggested in a recent interview with US “Vogue”: “I have a few extraordinary Chinese customers who are looking for precisely such statement pieces.
We are also seeing high demand in the Middle East, and there is still interest in Europe. "
The stock exchanges also suggest that the typical haute couture customer does not really need to limit herself at the moment despite the pandemic.
The world of Parisian haute couture, whose new collections were presented virtually this week, is apparently similar.
This gives designers a freedom that has become rare to think bigger and more radical - and they did.
Above all, Kim Jones.
The Briton designed Louis Vuitton's menswear for years, switched to Dior Homme in 2019 and was appointed Fendi's new chief designer last September, making him the successor to Karl Lagerfeld.
He had to make several debuts with Fendi Haute Couture: for the first time he is designing women's fashion, for the first time haute couture.
He has more than proven that he can withstand pressure.
Demi Moore for Fendi
Source: AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
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Mad women like Demi Moore, Kate Moss and their daughter Lila Grace, Farida Khelfa, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell walked through a labyrinth of human-sized terrariums, in which each model placed himself after his tour like a Meissen figure in a showcase.
Inspired by Virginia Woolf's “Orlando” and her friends from the artist group “Bloomsbury Group”, Jones designed suits with matching capes made of shimmering, marbled jacquards, off-the-shoulder, narrow robes, embroidered or made of silk, hybrids of coat and dress.
Kate Moss and her daughter Lila Grace
Source: AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
Naomi Campbell
Source: picture alliance / dpa / AP
Jones' expertise in men's fashion is palpable, but the casting alone shows that he puts women first.
After all, he is now part of a family in which women rule: Silvia Fendi's daughters Delfina Delettrez and Leonetta Fendi also walked the catwalk.
Even if haute couture can only be bought by very few people, it is increasingly approaching an aesthetic that is oriented towards a more down-to-earth life.
You saw that at Valentino, where Pier Paolo Piccioli demonstrated how well minimalism can work at the haute couture level.
Valentino
Source: Getty Images
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The models stalked through the Galleria Colonna in Rome on extremely high platform shoes, long and narrow in wide turtlenecks, light slip dresses, pencil skirts and monochrome evening dresses.
In between a coat made of hand-sewn cashmere roses, a robe embroidered with golden sequins, weighing 24 kilos.
It's called "casual couture".
All designers are responding to the pandemic.
But only now can you see how they express this in the collections.
At Dior they take refuge in the world of tarot cards and show looks for the “high priestess”, at Chanel they celebrate an imaginary wedding in southern France and announce the comeback of the petticoat.
The best collections are those that were more daring: more casual, more experiment, more humor.
Wedding reception at Chanel
Source: dpa / Fashionpps
As with Schiaparelli.
Chief designer Daniel Roseberry designed corsages with an embossed six-pack, floor-length dresses with straps attached to earrings, and velvet jackets that turn the model into a black bean.
Roseberry had his biggest appearance a few days before: He designed the costume for Lady Gaga's appearance at the inauguration of US President Joe Biden.