couture

Photo: Gorunway.com
Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli continued to push the boundaries of haute couture with his club-inspired collection, held below the Pont Alexandre III in Paris. Vogue fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen shares his five key takeaways from the Italian fashion house’s spring/summer 2023 couture show.
Photo: Gorunway.com
It took place in a nightclub
Pierpaolo Piccioli staged his Valentino haute couture show at 10pm in the dark of the underground Bridge Club below the Pont Alexandre III, with Kylie Minogue and Anne Hathaway dressed to the nines. “It’s the idea of the club as a place where fantasies can become real; where people are not only allowed to be who they want to be, but where their fantasies can transform them into whomever they wish to be. I think this is quite contemporary,” he said during a preview. “It’s a moment where I feel that people really want to feel free – to express themselves. Haute couture is culture based in fashion.” The message was clear: we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it, as the 1980s saying goes. Piccioli’s research was nestled in the transgressive spirit of New Wave and the New Romantics: kids like Leigh Bowery and his kind, who made the club their paradise of freedom. But, he said, “In the ’80s they were kind of hiding in the clubs. Now it’s a new stage of life.” No more getting changed on the night bus home, guys. The street is your dancefloor.
Photo: Gorunway.com
It reflected a new culture of haute couture
Since Piccioli started shaking up the world of haute couture some six years ago – going by the philosophy of “keeping its codes but changing its values” – it has become a different culture. When he popped into the atelier to have a look at the orders being made for clients the day before the show, the petites-mains were working on an outfit made up of a bra with a skirt and a coat. Not your traditional couture order. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said with a smile, but he could. The reason Piccioli can now stage couture shows in flamboyant club surroundings is because the popularity of his early solo shows for the house had the impact they did on social media. Now, those audiences – clients as well as onlookers and the many influencers who attend his shows – expect the amped-up, vibrant, sassy displays of attitude that unfolded under the Pont Alexandre III this season. “Fashion is about catching the zeitgeist, and the opportunity to progress people’s thoughts,” he said.
Photo: Gorunway.com
It was a meeting between Leigh Bowery and Mr Valentino
If the large-scale capes and balloon skirts that hit his proverbial dancefloor would be a daunting fit even for the most epic of discotheques, rest assured this wasn’t a collection designed for the club, but one inspired by the idea of it. “I didn’t want to adapt couture to the club, I wanted to create the kind of couture I’d want them to wear. It’s the Diana Vreeland way: ‘Don’t give them what they want, but let them want what you give them!’ That’s the fantasy. The dream of couture,” Piccioli mused. “The world of Leigh Bowery, the world of Mr Valentino in the ’80s. The glamour of the stripes, the polka dots, the ruffles, the most classical signs of haute couture, but re-signified in a different way with a different kind of balance. Leigh Bowery meets Mr Valentino.” He expressed it in formidable silhouettes that bordered on the performance art native to the ’80s clubbing codes, and painted them in the new intensified take on his signature colour and texture language he debuted in his last ready-to-wear show.
Photo: Gorunway.com
It was couture for the people
This was a collection shaped by its context. In the maison’s palatial salons on Place Vendôme – where the breeze of haute history still envelops you in stardust when you walk through the rooms – Piccioli’s creations looked much more like classical couture than they did on the raised podium of the club, with Anohni and Visage on the loudspeakers. It was an interesting experiment: an exercise into how far out of its traditional frames you can push couture and still make it feel haute. Elevated onto sky-high neon orange platforms with matching leggings and crowned with pink sunglasses with spiky plumes, this was pop couture – for the people. “I don’t want to be the kind of couturier who cares what people do with the clothes. I keep my show, and it can be worn like this or in a more classical way,” Piccioli said. “Couture clients today are not like in the ’50s. Hopefully they wear it with a pair of jeans and T-shirt. It’s not about the looks, it’s about the pieces.”
Photo: Gorunway.com
It was a manifesto for freedom
Now, Piccioli’s approach to haute couture is to give people the tools to transform into the best – and, you might say, most exuberant – version of themselves. “This is a sort of manifesto of freedom. In clubs there are not boundaries, and I hope that can happen in the world. Giving people a stage,” he said. “As a designer, I feel a responsibility to use my voice with awareness. I don’t want to talk about how many ruffles are on a dress because you can just count them. I feel that true haute couture is louder. You can deliver messages for the moment.”
Originally published on Vogue.co.uk

Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich and other powerful women of the ’20s served as inspiration for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s spring/summer 2023 Dior couture collection.
The collection took inspiration from the Roaring ’20s

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s haute couture collection for Christian Dior was inspired by Josephine Baker and the glitz and glamour that defined her era. But beyond that, it was an accomplished exercise in distilling a reference to an expression that suited the present-day mentality. The minimal lines and faded opulence that embodied her proposal captured the not-so-roaring ’20s in which we find ourselves through a distinctly modern, slick and relevant lens that felt both appropriate and desirable. “I came back from Christmas and the atmosphere was heavy,” Chiuri sighed during a preview. “The war in Ukraine, Iran, the cost of living crisis… We are very scared in Italy with new legislation about abortion. England is having a difficult moment after Brexit. I understand that the minister of New Zealand says, ‘I’m tired.’ She’s brave and honest,” she said, referring to Jacinda Ardern’s resignation. While this collection reflected that sensibility, it was anything but tired.

Josephine Baker and Marlene Dietrich played muse

After studying the power-dressing of Catherine de’ Medici for last season’s ready-to-wear collection, Chiuri detected a similar approach in the wardrobe of Josephine Baker. As a Black cabaret singer in 1920s Paris – and an example of the nouvelle femme – she used clothes as a tool to combat and transcend the racial stereotyping and gender roles of her time. With her growing stardom, Baker became a couture client at Dior and upon her triumphant return to America in 1951, Jet magazine ran a cover line that boasted about her “$250,000 wardrobe”. A wartime resistance fighter and early civil rights activist, Baker – who attended Yves Saint Laurent’s haute couture show for Dior in ’59 – took fashion seriously as a cultural force for change. In doing so, she echoed her contemporary Marlene Dietrich, whose provocative penchant for masculine dress codes earned her a spot alongside Baker on Chiuri’s board of season muses.
Chiuri reduced the cabaret wardrobe into a relevant expression

“I like the idea of creating a collection that’s inspired by the ’20s, when cabaret dresses were sparkly and embroidered and glamorous, and mixing it with real life: the tailleur, the uniform,” Chiuri said. “I’m a very pragmatic woman who likes clothes you can wear. Working with the feeling that comes from this reference, you can create something that works for today.” She took the elements of Baker’s heyday – fringed dresses, bustier dresses, metallic dresses – and purified their lines, relaxed them in construction and quieted their glitter factor until only the memory of them remained. The idea lent itself well to Chiuri’s couture practice, which has always employed the techniques of the atelier to create expressions founded in reality. And so, she hand-embroidered pale gold microcuvette with platinum tube fringes, draped burnished silver lamé jacquard into Grecian curves, and worked the finest gleaming crushed velvet into cowl-back evening silhouettes.
It had couturified elements of underwear and robes

The exuberant performances of Baker inspired research into the undergarments of the time, and the interwar period fashion for entertaining at home – or in fabulous hotel suites – in housecoats and robes. Chiuri transformed the pieces into a kind of evening look, like one composed of a black satin smocked satin swimsuit worn under a silk velvet robe with black lapels stitched in a diamond pattern. The idea expanded into more dressy oscillating crepe satin negligees paired with outerwear that borrowed from the herringbone and tweed of the gentleman’s wardrobe. Enter Marlene and her strict black tailoring, now slightly softened like a pleated marled wool jacket and skirt suit, a similar silhouette created in grey blistered jacquard, or a slate-grey felted wool cape that Chiuri understandably couldn’t help but swoon over in the showroom. “This kind of work, it’s so minimal… but it’s so couture!”
Mickalene Thomas created the set

Presented in a structure in the garden of Musée Rodin – “La Vita” by Beverly Glenn-Copeland on the sound system – the runway was framed by huge textile-based artworks created by the African-American artist Mickalene Thomas and over-embroidered by the Chanakya School of Craft in India. They portrayed thirteen Black or mixed-race women, whose contributions to culture opened the doors for new generations: Josephine Baker and Nina Simone; actresses Diahann Carroll, Dorothy Dandridge and Marpessa Dawn; actors and singers Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, Josephine Premice and Hazel Scott; models Donyale Luna, Naomi Sims and Helen Williams; and the model agent Ophelia DeVore. “The consideration was to research a diverse and eclectic group of women with the odds set against them,” Thomas said. “In spaces that attempted to reject or impede their success, they persevered with confidence, elegance, beauty and talent.”
Originally published in Vogue.co.uk

Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
10 years, thousands of followers, and countless noteworthy creations: Having completed a decade in the industry, designer Jean-Louis Sabaji is running stronger than ever. And for his latest drop, the Lebanese favorite has come up with yet another series of stunning ensembles that blur the lines between fashion and art.
This time around, Sabaji’s creative eye takes him on a journey under the sea, where soothing blues and pearly white clash with fiery reds and corals, and sculpted waves crash into golden seashells and shimmering mirror work. The inspiration behind the Fall 2022 Couture collection came from a holiday the designer took recently. “I’ve always found inspiration in Mother Nature, and especially so after a trip with my friends to Zanzibar, Tanzania. I fell in love with the sea all over again,” he tells Vogue Arabia in an exclusive chat. “We rented out a house by the beach where I lived the full experience of waking up to the sounds of the ocean for 10 days. I discovered so much above shore and under waters. I found myself waiting for high tide to become low, and got with me all the shells I could find and actually gold plated them and placed them on a few pieces in the collection. I found myself sketching every day until this collection came to life.”
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
The result is a series of mesmerizing dresses and gowns that would look just as elegant on the red carpet as they would at a beach party on a balmy evening. In true Jean-Louis Sabaji fashion, the couture selection takes a simple concept, and transforms into something out of a fantasy. Below, we find out more about the designer’s creative process, his favorite fashion memories, and his plans for the future.
Can you share any special memories you share with the sea or the seaside?
I was born and raised in Lebanon, so the Mediterranean is part of my DNA. I spent my whole childhood between the mountains and the sea. I was very intrigued by the fish in the sea, and was constantly looking for colored fish like the ones we saw in movies, until my parents got me an aquarium at home with two of the most colorful fish you can find.
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Nature seems to be a theme that’s close to your heart. Why is this so?
I spent most of my summers in the mountains and we had a very big garden filled with all types of trees and plants. My parents were also passionate about raising animals. We had a rooster, chickens, flamingoes and birds. It’s hard not to find inspiration when I was surrounded by all the beautiful things nature offers.
If you could pick one hero piece from this collection, which one would it be, and why?
The hero piece of this collection is the dress with the big exaggerated seashell made out of copper. It was a piece I had thought of doing for a while, and the process of seeing it come to life was very enlightening. Every step of the creation was an experience, starting from creating the mold, to the gold plating, and then deciding to cover it with crystals. I love how the corset fits the body perfectly, and that it turned out to be better than I imagined it.
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Fashion can make people feel a myriad of emotions. What do you hope to achieve with your creations? How do you hope to make your wearers feel?
Albert Camus once said, “If the world were clear, art would not exist.” Fashion is the art that we cannot escape from. I want my creations to be appreciated even if the woman doesn’t see herself wearing it. But for those who do go through the exclusive journey in my atelier and try on my dresses, all I want is for them to be comfortable, yet stand out with confidence.
Who, according to you, is the ultimate Jean-Louis Sabaji woman? What are her strongest personality traits?
The Sabaji woman is someone who is bold, feminine and loves to be unique. She is confident enough to wear statement pieces and be the best version of herself.
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Name three women you hope to see wearing your creations someday.
As cliché as this might sound, I would love for my designs to be in EVERY woman’s closet someday.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this line?
The beauty of couture is that the sky is the limit. Especially after launching a toned-down RTW line, I was able to be as conceptual as I want with this collection. Although you can see the theme clearly throughout the pieces, my biggest challenge was keeping it as wearable as I could.
Lastly, what is next for you?
There is project coming up in October that I can’t wait to share with everyone. Stay tuned!
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji
Photo: Courtesy Jean-Louis Sabaji

Photo: Gorunway.com
There were plenty of accessories to note from the haute couture autumn/winter 2022 shows. Demna went high-tech at Balenciaga and debuted air-filtering face shields, made in collaboration with Mercedes-AMG F1, and speaker bags by Bang & Olufsen.
Mega jewelry was trending this season, too. Daniel Roseberry paired his sculptural couture looks with gargantuan earrings that skimmed models’ navels at Schiaparelli, Fendi debuted asymmetric brooches clipped onto gloves, while Olivier Rousteing made a case for the nose ring during his takeover at Jean Paul Gaultier.
Scroll on for a closer look at the best accessories from Couture Fashion Week.
Balenciaga’s face shields and speaker bags
Photo: Gorunway.com
Schiaparelli’s mega earrings
Photo: Gorunway.com
Viktor & Rolf’s preppy ties
Photo: Gorunway.com
Iris Van Herpen’s futuristic headbands
Photo: Gorunway.com
Alexandre Vauthier’s bejeweled corsages
Photo: Gorunway.com
Fendi’s micro gloves
Photo: Gorunway.com
Jean Paul Gaultier’s punky nose rings
Photo: Gorunway.com
Chanel’s whimsical hair bows
Photo: Gorunway.com
Valentino’s opera gloves
Photo: Gorunway.com
Giambattista Valli’s sci-fi shades
Photo: Gorunway.com
Originally published in Vogue.co.uk
Read next: 15 Brightly-Colored Accessories That Will Give All Your Summer Outfits a Boost

Photo: Courtesy of MK by Marios
Distinguished Greek fashion designers, international designers and infamous fashion brands all made their feature at the Xclusive Designers Week in Greece. The biannual event took place at the Zappeion Megaron this spring, which is an important national heritage site of Greek Civilization. Designers who made a feature ranged from Rami Kadi to Daphne Valente.
Scroll to see some of the highlights by seven iconic fashion designers.

Rami Kadi
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Kadi
This season, Athens Fashion Week hosted Rami Kadi as the guest of honour, featuring 43 of his dresses from his Spring/Summer 2022 collection, titled, ‘Lucid Algorithms’. His show displayed novel and unseen couture designs as exclusive custom pieces handcrafted for Athens Xclusive Designers, featuring bold colors and juxtaposing rhythms.
Vassilis Zoulias
Photo: Courtesy of Vassilis Zoulias
Vassilis Zoulias demi couture Fall/Winter 2022 collection titled ‘The Swans’ featured black and white pieces inspired by Truman Capote’s book, The Swans. The book harkens back to the 50s and 60s and speaks of the vivacious beauty of women like Marella Agnelli, Gloria Vanderbilt, Babe Paley and all members of prominent American and European families. The collection was rife with taffeta, faille, organza and satin and matched with fine lace and trimmings, all hand-made to perfection.
Paris Valtadoros
Photo: Panoulis Photography
Paris Valtadoros presented its collection, titled ‘Anasa’, transforming the Peristylion of Zappeion into a V-shaped runway with white decorative balloons. The collection consists of colorful creations combined with an eye for design. Particularly intense colors include yellow, fuchsia, green and rouge, symbolizing optimism. Wide sleeves, a variety of shoulder designs, metallic prints and dresses embellished with stones particularly stand out in this collection.
Daphne Valente
Photo: Panoulis Photography
Daphne Valente presented its ‘Summer Night Dream’ collection inspired by the famous William Shakespeare’s act Midsummer’s Night Dream which takes place in Ancient Greece. The impressive finale was the highlight of the show when the models appeared holding placards with socially-conscious messages such as “stop racism”, “say no to fast fashion” and “no bullying”. Designer Valente closed the show holding her own message with the quote, “All we need is love” and won the audience over.
Kathy Heyndels
Photo Courtesy of: Kathy Heyndels
Kathy Heyndels’s ‘Spectrum’ celebrated the Earth and its colors including sun yellow and sea blue. The collection featured romantic and feminine dresses as well as suits.
MK by Marios
Photo: Courtesy of MK by Marios
MK by Marios presented its ‘Luna Park/ Dark’ collection rife with metallic fabrics, colorful sequins. The prints were some of the most unique features of the collection, accentuated with their theatrical style, alongside rare headpieces.
Irene Angelopoulos
Photography: Panoulis Photography
Irene Angelopoulos presented her collection ‘Road-tripping to Freedom’ SS’22 abundant with vivid colors, airy dresses, cool combinations but also unique haute couture creations that characterize the workplace of the designer.
Read Next: Kate Middleton Just Recreated a Famous Royal Tour Moment in Her Sunshine Yellow Dress

Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Trust Rami Al Ali to masterfully offer a vision of changing seasons through couture as an “homage to the dawn of spring.” Unveiled alongside Paris couture week, the Syrian designer’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection is a pastel dream of 22 looks that journey through seasons. “This collection’s theme is an optimistic one,” Al Ali shared with Vogue Arabia. “It is a positive force symbolized by the snow melting and spring blooming as the skies clear up from the heavy clouds that overwhelmed it over the past few seasons. I wanted the energy of my collection to be light, cheerful, and happy.” To that end, the color palette is thoughtfully curated to include mint green, citron yellow, and pale rose that represent warmth transitioning from the cooler and moodier icy blue and black.
Nearly a year after celebrating the 20th anniversary of his fashion house, the celebrity-loved designer showcases his honed aesthetic by offering both, delicately feminine and sharp structured pieces. Slinky dresses with sweeping cape sleeves contrast against show-stopping voluminous layered skirts, while his signature sculptured elements flow seamlessly into fluid draping in the same dress. The selection of fabrics and the craftsmanship rendered to them adds to the designer’s vision of shifting seasons to a great extent. Delicate and light muslin, tulle, satin, silk, and organza offer an air of dreaminess to the collection, crystals are used for a frost-like effect, and so is intricate beading in geometric patterns to appear as if they are melting off the gowns.
Take a look at the best pieces from Rami Al Ali’s Spring/Summer 2022 couture collection below.
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Read Next: The 10 Best Looks from Elie Saab’s Mediterranean-Inspired Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture Collection

Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
The city of Paris is currently abuzz with all the excitement that comes with haute couture week, and today, Paris-based Ashi Studio is all set to present its spring/summer 2022 couture collection to the world from the fashion capital. Titled ‘Heaven Scent’, the line encapsulates all that is elegant, culminating in a showcase that brings flora to life in the most unique way.
Seemingly taking inspiration from a flower-laced memory of romance, Ashi Studio’s spring/summer 2022 collection echoes the beauty of a secret garden, replete with hyacinths, jasmines, magnolias, violets, lilies, and roses. Sculpted to portray the delicate petals of blooms, the pieces in the display also come in a range of nature-inspired hues, starting with stark whites, cascading into powder pinks, earthy grays, and finally, charcoal black, all with a dose of rich scarlet thrown in for good measure. The creations from ‘Heaven Scent’ spotlight impeccable craftsmanship, evident in the light-as-air pleated pieces, dreamy feather-detailed fluttering blouses and grandiose layered gowns, all of which command attention in solid washes of color. You’ll also spot new-age hybrids in the collection, all of which was lovingly put together in Paris: a strapless red blouse making a statement with its voluminous feather train, off-shoulder capes offset with nothing but classic trousers, and dare we say ‘futuristic’ jackets with exaggerated shoulders—weightless, yet powerful.
Building up to the grand reveal, the Parisian fashion house’s Instagram page has been sharing snippets of what’s to come with the world. If you can’t wait to see the final pieces any longer, here’s a sneak peek at Ashi Studio‘s latest masterpiece.
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022
Ashi Studio haute couture spring/summer 2022

Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Elie Saab‘s first runway show in two years blossomed with flowers from a Mediterranean summer. The Lebanese designer’s Spring/Summer 2022 couture collection draws inspiration from the “beauty, heritage, and charm” of the Mediterranean landscape, and offers Saab’s vision of Eden on Earth.
With his signature gowns now elevated, skirts are even fuller, covered entirely in petal-like feathers. In a few firsts for the designer, Saab experimented with satin, shorter hemlines, and saturated hues instead of the usual muted palette. Shades of fuchsia and red charted a journey from dawn to dusk, while refreshing chartreuse, sea green and blue represented the sun setting on the ocean. Feminine mermaid tails, plunging necklines, and thigh-high slits offered a contrast against the sharp shoulders “like colonnades of ancient temples” that sat on top of slinky and billowing dresses. Necklines were also accentuated with floral appliqués made to look like bouquets, and sleeves were extended to form gloves embroidered with sequins. Fun to both, look at and wear, some pieces featured Greek and Roman-inspired tassels and fringe, while others displayed the house’s signature craftsmanship in the silk braided into intricate patterns. As for the Elie Saab bride, the dress was a pearl white creation with a floor-grazing round skirt, paired with a sheer shawl featuring an interplay of shimmering embroidery and feathers.
Take a look at the best pieces from Elie Saab’s Spring/Summer 2022 couture collection below.
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Photo: Courtesy of Elie Saab
Read Next: The 10 Best Looks from Zuhair Murad’s Pirate-Inspired Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture Collection

Valentino at Paris Couture Week. Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
Pierpaolo Piccioli is devoted to making haute couture relevant in a progressive world. Through his Valentino collections, he strives to make fashion’s most elitist corner reflective of the inclusive values of new generations, so that everyone can mirror themselves in its image. After years of infusing his collection with diversity, this season Piccioli embraced body awareness. He changed his entire approach to haute couture from the cutting board through sketching and draping his creations on people of different body types and ages. From fabrics to surface decorations, he created each garment according to the proportions of their bodies. It painted a contrast to the way couture usually works where a garment is created on a typically skinny silhouette and later scaled up or down according to the body of the client who buys it. During a preview in Valentino’s salons on Place Vendôme, Piccioli told British Vogue’s fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen why this process was so important to him.
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
How was your process different this season?
“When you do couture, you have the house model. And you apply the body of the house model to 50 or 60 models on the runway. I wanted to break these rules and embrace the idea of different proportions of body, different sizes, different ages. But it was impossible to do this with just one house model. So, I broke the rules and got 10 house models with differently proportioned bodies.”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
What drove this decision?
“I don’t think haute couture belongs to the past. I think it can be relevant today if it stays focused on modernity. For me, the modernity of couture doesn’t mean the modernity of beauty, because beauty is beauty. But it means that the approach is different. You embrace humanity.”
How did you go about it?
“I started the collection studying the canons of eras and ages. Since the Middle Age, there has always been a canon of beauty. Now, you cannot have canons. Humanity is the canon. Everything is valid. So, in order to defeat this idea of couture belonging to the past, I couldn’t work with one house model.”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
Haute couture is made-to-measure. How is this collection different?
“When you sell couture, you adapt it to the person. When you rethink the process, you start facing a different body. When you study a body, it can be scientific, romantic or sexual. The three of them are close. And this way, it’s more human.”
What was the process like for you?
“It was about studying the process, not adapting the status to different proportions. For me, it was a very interesting process, because we got to create new silhouettes. When the atelier saw the different body proportions, it was like they were looking at new silhouettes.”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
What was your objective?
“I wondered if the classic idea of couture – the Cecil Beaton, the salons – could have different ranges of women with different proportions with different ages giving the same beauty, and giving them dignity? Because that’s important. It’s really important today to talk about body awareness.”
Do you think this has been missing in fashion?
“In runway shows, sometimes there are 50 skinny models and one bigger sized. I feel like you don’t really relate to that. You don’t believe that. You just tick the box. Sometimes when I see models of different proportions on the runway, they don’t have the same magic. That was the best: to give them the same emotion; the feeling of couture.”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
Anohni wrote the soundtrack for the show. What was your brief?
“She was very aware of this: the awareness of the body. That’s what we talked about: giving dignity to these bodies. That was a very important theme for her.”
Can you elaborate on the idea of a beauty canon founded in humanity?
“What I want to deliver is the idea that any canon is valid. In the ’30s you had to be long and thin, in the ’40s you have to be more horizontal with big shoulders, the ’50s were about softness, the ’60s were shorter and smaller and more nervous bodies, the ’70s brought again an elongated and kind of masculine body, the 80s had the big shoulders and boobs again, the ’90s had minimalism. And then plastic surgery…”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
How do you feel about this plastic surgery era?
“I don’t think the idea of trying to look like someone else is interesting. After [the rise in] plastic surgery, I think we all felt the urgency of talking about diversity and awareness of our bodies and different proportions of gender, sizes, cultures, identities. Once we had enough of all the canons, we discovered that humanity is the only canon that’s valid. Freedom. Be yourself. That’s the real canon.”
What message would you like to convey to people with this cast and process?
“It could deliver a strong message for young people who are struggling with something. If she’s beautiful, you can be beautiful.”
Originally published on Vogue.co.uk

Rym Saidi in Rami Al Ali. Photo: Dazl Production
Among the host of dazzling gold gowns at Vogue‘s Ball of Arabia, Rym Saidi‘s subtle yet elegant take on the night’s dress code was a noteworthy stand-out moment. The Tunisian actor took the pale gold route on December 12, and breezed into Raffles The Palm Dubai in a gown by Syrian couturier Rami Al Ali, cementing her spot among the best dressed at the grand event.

The strapless dress with a structured corset top flowed into a floor-grazing pleated skirt with a high slit, and was picked from the UAE-based designer’s Fall/Winter 2021 collection. Saidi, who also fronted Vogue Arabia’s May 2019 issue, channeled the model in her as she posed for the cameras at the ball, with lights reflecting off of the sharp pleats of her dress. The star’s look was curated by celebrity stylist Cedric Haddad and served as the perfect mix of regional and international talent, complete with Jimmy Choo heels, a gemstone-adorned Bulgari choker, and matching earrings (notice how one featured a ruby while the other championed a sapphire) that complemented her regal updo.

For the mother-of-two married to actor Wissam Breidy, picking a Rami Al Ali creation for the Ball of Arabia celebrating the UAE was an easy choice. Both, the designer and star, have adopted Dubai as their home, and there could not have been a better way to honor their connection to the country than by coming together to create this memorable sartorial moment. Speaking to Vogue Arabia, the actor shared why the gold number will also be one to remember for her. “I don’t usually wear gold, but it is the most luxurious color,” she said. “It is almost the end of the year, so it is a great occasion to wear the color, especially at this beautiful ball.” Saidi also took the opportunity to spotlight the strength of Emirati women, saying, “I am so proud of them—what they are doing and what they have done already. I am proud as an Arab woman living here in the UAE, and I want to see more and more Emirati women on top.”
Below, more snapshots of Saidi from the evening.

Read Next: Mona Zaki to Dorra Zarrouk: The Most Beautiful Gold Gowns from Vogue’s Ball of Arabia 2021