Paris (AFP)

Dresses from 40,000 euros for red carpets or Middle Eastern palaces: the haute couture presented in Paris is opulence, but also the artistic gesture and rare know-how that make the pieces of the daily.

8XL men's suits, bought at Kiabi for less than 100 euros and transformed into refined outfits for women: on the sidelines of the haute couture week, an elitist and exclusively Parisian event, which ends on Thursday, the historian of the fashion Olivier Saillard offered another look, in the “Moda povera” performance parades.

"The message is that luxury is really cheap, it's a bit of culture. Refinement is not necessarily housed in precious stones, but sometimes in everyday life," said AFP. historian, former director of the Palais Galliera, Paris fashion museum, and curator of exhibitions.

This "poor fashion" project refers to "arte povera", an Italian artistic movement of the 1960s which celebrates the creative gesture and consists in making meaningless objects.

Olivier Saillard asked for little hands retired from large houses, such as Madame Grès (who no longer exists) for draping techniques.

Axelle Doué, a model who had worked with Madame Grès, shows for 50 minutes the incredible transformation of extra-large pieces into haute couture suits.

- Volume exercises-

The tailor's price is multiplied by 20 compared to the basic pieces, because of the hours of work and the techniques of haute couture "which cannot be improvised".

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Creating from existing outfits, rather than yards of fabric, is a bias to showcase "ordinary clothing," he says.

"We think that haute couture is embroidery. But it is volume, model making. Deciding that the volume will be far from the body is an exercise", explains Olivier Saillard.

Jean Paul Gaultier's haute couture collection made by guest stylist, Japanese Chitosé Abe from Sacai, is the result of a similar exercise.

Layered jeans serve as the basis for voluminous dresses, the trench coat transforms into an architectural strapless dress, an oversized khaki bomber is matched with a balloon skirt, and a corset emphasizes the quilted volumes of a puffer dress.

Known for unexpectedly juxtaposing volumes and materials, the designer celebrated the signature Jean Paul Gaultier look in a "3 in 1" outfit incorporating a sailor dress, tartan skirt and overalls.

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In Dior's “tailor” haute couture workshop, the latest collection plays with proportions and offers larger silhouettes this season.

The beige and navy blue jackets seem identical, but the fabrics are different, which requires interlinings and finishes on a case-by-case basis.

Artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri examines them in the garment yard.

"She says + I want it to be stiffer +, and then we undo, we redo the interlinings", tells AFP a seamstress.

- Invisible luxury -

In the "fuzzy" workshop which makes the dresses, two small hands have been at work for several days to make invisible stitches on an evening dress.

The colors are pale, natural, timeless.

Anti bling-bling, "contemporary and timeless", which can be passed on from mother to daughter: this is how Maria Grazia Chiuri defines the essence of haute couture.

"You have to stop thinking that haute couture clients want to wear embroidered meringues, they ask me for things to live and be in the action", declares the couturier Julien Fournié, who dresses queens and princesses of Arab countries.

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Haute couture is about the cut, not "frills with ruffles", he emphasizes, proud of his kimono sleeve which gives a nice look and comfort to fitted dresses.

"We have sometimes reached insane prices because there are 290 hours of embroidery or 390 hours of plumasserie (...) We sell hourly time and French know-how", concludes the designer.

© 2021 AFP