The Biggest Celeb Moments From Paris Haute Couture Week 2021
Home to luxurious brands such as Christian Dior, Balmain and Givenchy, Paris is considered by most to be the fashion
Victoria Liotta
Home to luxurious brands such as Christian Dior, Balmain and Givenchy, Paris is considered by most to be the fashion capital of the world. And, twice a year the City of Lights hosts Haute Couture Week—attended by fashion’s most celebrated icons. This past week has showcased over-the-top looks of true craftsmanship from designers across the globe. Alongside the wearable art are famous faces either modeling it or admiring such as Bella Hadid and Anna Wintour. Take a front row seat to the biggest moments and most extravagant wears without the cost of the airfare.
The Designers
Although some brands chose to present their collections digitally through films or photoshoots, this past week had more physical shows on the schedule than any Fashion Week in the past 18 months. It kicked off with Dior on Monday, July 5 and will close out Pyer Moss Couture on Thursday, July 8.
Chanel presented their autumn/winter 2021 Couture Collection at the Palais Galliera, the City of Paris Fashion Museum. It showcases an exhibition about the house’s founder, Gabrielle Chanel who was a leading inspiration behind the collection. Chanel’s creative director, Virginie Viard, shares “It was when I rediscovered these portraits of Gabrielle Chanel dressed up in black or white 1880s-style dresses, that I immediately thought about tableaux.” Viard was influenced by impressionist artists explaining, “Works by Berthe Morisot, Marie Laurencin and Édouard Manet. There are impressionist-inspired dresses, skirts that look like paintings and a long white satin dress punctuated with black bows like Morisot’s.” Closing out the show was actress Margaret Qualley who wore a customary bridal look and added a playful twist of tossing her bouquet into the crowd.
“Reclaiming the values of Haute Couture after this period of restrictions when the Dior collections designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri were mainly presented through film. The materiality of fabric becomes form, while the subversive language of embroidery is expressed in a project that becomes a performance,” the house says of the collection. Chiuri, Dior’s creative director, took inspiration from the sensational embroidered walls of the Sala dei Ricami in Rome’s Palazzo Colonna. The brand collaborated with artist Eva Jaspin, who created an astonishing set especially for this event. It featured her large-scale embroidered work entitled “Chambre de Soie.” And if you just so happened to miss your first class flight to Paris or if your invite got lost in the mail, don’t worry, you can experience its artistic beauty on their site
Mugler has become famous for fashionably late presentations but thrilling ones at that. For Fall 2021, Casey Cadwallader presented a mini film with a star-studded cast: Hunter Scharfer, Dominique Jackson, Alek Wek, Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, and others. They were dressed in sultry bonded lycra bodysuits, bold-shouldered jackets with sleek cutouts, and form hugging jersey dresses. Barry Samaha writes “Think: Comic book heroines, who, as any Marvel fan knows, always dazzle when they make an entrance.”
Famous Faces
Many well respected faces were spotted in Paris for its Haute Couture Week wearing awe-inspiring looks. Anna Wintour, the queen of the industry, attended the Balenciaga Haute Couture show wearing a floral belted dress which complemented well with her signature bob and sunglasses. Salma Hayek and her husband François-Henri Pinault leveled up “date night” from more than just dinner and a movie. The pair attended the Balenciaga show as well dressed up in vibrant blue accessorized with subtle neutral tones.
The date night energy continued on with appearances by Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom and the Louis Vuitton Parfum Dinner. Perry wore a flapper inspired gown which was glammed up with silver and lavender tulle and styled with LV pointed-toe black buckle heels. Another power couple spotted at Fondation Louis Vuitton on July 5 was Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. The Jonas Brother singer wore a Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2021 graphic logo sweater and black trousers. The Game of Thrones alum wore a Louis Vuitton Resort 2022 coat dress styled with black and red pointed-toe boots and a silver monogram bag. Bella Hadid attended the dinner party as well in head-to-toe Louis Vuitton Resort 2021 layered with a black beaded dress and styled with black leather boots.
Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse, Florence Pugh and Jennifer Lawrence were spotted at the Christian Dior Haute Couture autumn/winter 2021 show wearing modern trendy looks with a heavy intimidation factor. The models on the runway might have been in the spotlight for the show but the celebrities off the runway for sure stole it.