fall 2021

Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad‘s fall 2021 couture collection is an expression of unapologetic splendor. After year of lockdowns, staying indoors, and the absence of social events, the collection of evening gowns is a heartfelt tribute to cities and cultures of bravery.
Here, five things you must know about Zuhair Murad’s fall 2021 couture collection.

The collection is an ode to the designer and his hometown’s resilience
Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
Murad’s atelier, an archive worth 20 years of work, was shattered in the August 4 Beirut port explosion last year amid the pandemic weighing down the fashion industry. The collection pays a tribute to the perseverance entrenched in his country’s culture. Working on his couture line made Murad feel happy and alive, despite the hurdles 2020 brought.
The collection’s muse is the city of Venice
Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
Murad looked to the Serenissima, another city of resilience that has suffered invasions and diseases but has re-emerged every time. From “fourreau” capes borrowing from Italian artist Vittore Carpaccio’s paintings to scoop necks and puffed cap sleeves inspired by the Venetian Carnival, the collection is wrapped in historical references of the City of Doges. The embroidery takes from stained glass windows and Murano chandeliers in Venetian architecture.
The collection combines gigantic volume with thin silhouettes
Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
The gowns’ silver and gold crystal fringe, along with draped ballooning taffeta capes, juxtapose enormous proportions and slender silhouettes.
The collection’s color palette draws from tones of precious jewels
Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
Pieces further down the line had a palette of deep black offset with tones of emerald, ruby, and sapphire, and winding embroidered numbers shimmering in diamonds.
The collection revisits Renaissance outfits
Photo: Courtesy of Zuhair Murad
The combinations of crystal garlands, long dresses of patrician hostesses, and oriental princess kaftans represent Renaissance-inspired chiffon, taffeta, faille and metallic organza outfits. However, silver lurex and shoulders and curves revealed through slits and asymmetries bring a modern note.
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Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Syrian fashion designer Rami Al Ali’s fall/winter 2021 couture collection effortlessly marries simplicity with grandiose. Unveiled in a presentation on June 5, the 14 pieces romanticize architectural silhouettes through generously ornate embellishments. Read on for five things you must know about the collection.

The collection borrows from the simplicity of lockdown fashion
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Lockdown lifestyles have forced many designers to pivot away from their own aesthetics and toward the sort of simple, elegant clothing that feels right in the present. This collection does no different, with muted yet sophisticated tones that are easy on the eyes.
The collection takes creative cues from an award-winning photography series
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
The collection follows in the footsteps of a photo series by Swiss photographer Cyril Porchet. Named Seduction, they capture opulent altars in 10 baroque churches. The collection especially mirrors a picture of a church altar in Regensburg, Germany with incredibly detailed handwork. Baroque silhouettes reign supreme in the collection, with a touch of modernity in every piece.
The collection incorporates royal colors and shades
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
A sense of regality can be felt throughout the collection, conveyed through the Dubai-based designer’s use of champagne and beige hues, interspersed with varying degrees of gold, from bright metallics to vintage rust. As with every Al Ali couture collection, beading plays an integral role to its makeup.
The collection fuses Swarovski crystals and new materials
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Employing a dazzling blend of Swarovski crystals and pearls, the collection introduces feathers this season to create movement and provide contrast to the starkness of the gold, while maintaining the feminine codes of the house. New materials such as gilded macramé are also initiated to form a sleek, full crystal look.
The collection amalgamates diverse outfits
Photo: Courtesy of Rami Al Ali
Silhouettes vary from voluminous gowns to sleek fit-to-form varieties. Playful tea length dresses are interspersed with elegant jumpsuits, ruffled tops, and pleated muslin trousers.
Read Next: Maison Rabih Kayrouz Fall 2021 Couture Presents Les Exceptionnels

Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
Rabih Kayrouz may be reeling as he watches and experiences the devastation of the economic collapse of his home country Lebanon, and yet he continues to push forth, a beacon of light, and a purveyor of beauty. The words of the great Syrian poet Adonis come to mind, “Beauty can save the world.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
This season, the Maison Rabih Kayrouz Fall 2021 couture collection saw its “Les Essentiels” collection transform through haute couture to become “Les Exceptionnels.” A fine wool jacket is transformed into a tuxedo with an open back. A double gabardine trench coat is embroidered and its fabric unravels into fringes underlining the cotton gauze of a dress in silk tulle. Meanwhile, a cashmere coat is accented with velvet bangs, accenting movement, and pushing forth with joy. Kayrouz comments that all is intertwined, intended to be treasured and passed on from one woman to another.
Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
Where does one go, when the outside world no longer exists? Kayrouz was badly injured during the August 4th Beirut blast. Walking up the steep staircase to his showroom in Paris one comes face to face with the framed picture of the Rocks of Raouché. The familiar rock formations now appear like a broken heart. And then, light. The atelier is as it has always been, bathed in sunshine and lined with block-color clothes standing at attention, in silent competition; which one will slide first into the wardrobe? At the room’s center is Kayrouz. Exceptionally slim, his broad shoulders seem straighter; his face, while almost entirely covered with a surgical mask, has taken on the paradoxical deep and empty expression of someone who has witnessed war.
Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
“Twenty years of work is not nothing. I have a certain experience,” starts Kayrouz, adding that he has an archive of 2000 patterns. “When I celebrated this milestone, in 2019, I took a step back to reflect and concentrate. And then the world sent some signs…” Kayrouz no longer wants to run, where the speed results in the forgetting of things that happen. He affirms that this realization occurred just before Covid. This desire to slow down the rhythm. “I was starting to feel tired, but you know, when you are in fashion, we have a calendar to follow and we don’t have the luxury to think a great deal.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
Yet, think differently, he did. He found strength in his desire to shift to act. Now, instead of churning out something new at all costs, he is focusing on his savoir-faire. “My obsession has always been to dress the woman I love in a full wardrobe. I present couture in my way. Contemporary couture.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
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Photo: Courtesy of Valentino
While the spring 2022 menswear shows in Milan and Paris are expected to be a hybrid of in-person and virtual, the Couture shows, organized by Paris’s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, will be a mostly physical affair. If real life collections from Christian Dior and Chanel were not enough to get your heart racing—alongside the twice-postponed debuts from Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga and Chitose Abe at Jean Paul Gaultier—there is even more happening around the collections.
On July 15, several days after the official week concludes, Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli will be taking his couture show on the road to Venice. “Venice for Pierpaolo represents the city that generates vibrations on art, music, architecture, cinema, and everything that has to do with creativity,” said the brand in a statement. Valentino’s fall 2021 haute couture show in the Floating City won’t be the only fashion event requiring a vaporetto: Rick Owens is expected to present his menswear collection there in June, WWD is reporting that Saint Laurent will host a menswear show there in July, and there are rumors that more brands are planning one-off events in Venice in August.
For those staying in Paris, there will be plenty to take in before the official Couture week kicks off too. On July 4, Pieter Mulier will show his first official collection as the artistic director of Alaïa. It will mark the brand’s first runway show since its founder Azzedine Alaïa’s death in 2017 and Mulier’s first outing at the helm of a brand. Previously, he was Raf Simons’s right hand for the better part of a decade, following his fellow Belgian designer from Jil Sander to Christian Dior and Calvin Klein.
In addition, the Couture calendar will welcome guest designers Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss, Charles de Vilmorin, and Ralph Rucci of RR331.
Read Next: Celebrating Enduring Couture That Continues to Thrive in an Era Rocked By a Pandemic
Originally published on Vogue.com

How uplifting to witness the new Fall 2021 collections starting to filter through – they feel like a temporary jolt out of a pandemic-induced haze. And designers really have gone ‘all-out’ this season, presenting beautifully ethereal films (Dior) and cinematic shorts (Miu Miu) from the dreamy halls of the Palace of Versailles to far-flung snow-capped mountains. Lockdown has obviously inspired the desire for wanderlust and fantasy, and the fashion? Well, it’s all the better for it.
An undercurrent of protection and utility – familiar narratives for Winter offerings – is, understandably, evident once again in oversized quilted coats (Chloe), padded ski jackets (Miu Miu) and cropped shearling-trimmed bombers (Givenchy). At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri tucked 50s headscarves into turtleneck sweaters, topped with elegantly-cut, ankle-grazing coats – investment pieces that feel right, for now.
Going back to the aforementioned ‘jolt,’ take in Jonathan Anderson’s bold and offbeat collection for Loewe to feel the fizz of new ideas blossoming. Zig-zag prints, cocoon shapes, colorful accessories – this is outright fun and frivolous fashion that requires no justification… coming to an extravagantly staged Tim walker editorial soon. This is artwork for the body: a blue two-piece trimmed with giant tassels, draped silk tops with huge buckle-like embellishment, wide striped culottes, and fluffy psychedelic mohair sweaters – pieces that simply radiate joy.
For those going back to the office, there are plenty of suggestions for an elevated everyday wardrobe from Elie Saab, Hermes and Fendi, whose flowing silk skirts and belted tonal blouses with extra-wide cuffs combine comfort, modesty and chic wearability. Jil Sander, too, has plenty to inspire a wardrobe refresh with long leather gloves and point-toe knee boots paired with geometric dresses, topped with a neck scarf in the same print – effortless layering done really, really well.
Read Next: 5 Key Fall 2021 Fashion Trends to Know Now

What season is it anyway? Does it even matter? Despite the pandemic induced shuffle of shows, collection drops and business models, designers have retained at least one constant, unshakeable drive: the desire to create. And while we might not necessarily need to invest in a new pair of metallic fringed pants right now, just the very sight of them is enough (in some small way), to inspire a scenario of dancing in them with a room full of mask-less people. Until then, add them to a list of fall 2021 items and trends to covet (below) when the seasons once again roll around…
Loose suits

SS21’s wide pants have gained traction – so much so in fact, that designers have decided to pair them with an equally oversized jacket. Cue the loose suit, offered up by the likes of Victoria Beckham, Alberta Ferretti and Max Mara: sophisticated, elegant and utterly effortless.
Puffer jackets

Paired with maxi dresses, midi skirts, short shorts or even high-heel armored boots (Balenciaga), the protective puffer jacket is a versatile winter wardrobe staple for fall 2021.
A fringe finish

From belted coats to knit dresses, designers had everything in shreds for fall. Let’s face it, fringed clothing has come a long way from its association with 1920s flapper dresses, Western-style leather jackets, or Sixties Hippie era suede waistcoats. At Salvatore Ferragamo, monochrome knit dresses were covered in hanging scraps, while Fendi added fringe detail to the bottom of elegant evening coats.
Statement legs

A fast-track way to change up an outfit? With a pair of block color or statement print stockings. At Prada, models strutted through multi-textural rooms in geometric print hosiery rendered all the more powerful under conservative navy skirt suits.
Knit fever

What’s the first thing you think of when you think about comfort? If it’s cosy knitwear, you’re in good company as designers have imagined practically every silhouette for fall in ultra-soft fabrics.
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