Vogue Arabia street style from Couture Fashion Week. Photographed by Valentina Fruguiele
There’s no rest for the fashion pack – especially considering that last week saw the industry elite take to the Paris shows for Couture Fashion Week with its supercharged new schedule. From Celine Dion taking to the front rows in striking outfit combinations to Kristen Stewart tapping into the next-gen vibe in a sequin catsuit, the news reels have been spinning into overdrive.
As Jessica Kahawaty shared her Vogue Paris Foundation Gala dinner diary exclusively with Vogue Arabia, we also spoke to the Ralph & Russo team for the 101 on Sonam Kapoor‘s finale wedding dresses (that took more than 8 000 hours to hand-embroider).
From Paris it was on to Palermo, as team Vogue Arabia headed to the Italian destination to view the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda collection in person. Previewing the fittings from Instagram, Suzy Menkes wrote about the striking offering that was laced with the design duo’s patriotic joie de vivre. Check back on Vogue.me to read her review.
Rewind to earlier in the week, couture week upped its ante and served as a stunning fashion focal point. Typically, strict rules apply for who can showcase a new collection on the haute couture circuit but there has been a marked increase in guests invited to join the calendar, and with different seasons taking to the runway, too.
Rodarte and Proenza Schouler showed Spring 2018 ready-to-wear, while Miu Miu and newly launched Dundas presented Resort 2018. The rest of couture was fixated on Fall 2017 couture. Peter Dundas spoke to Vogue Arabia about his debut collection now on Moda Operandi here. Regional designers shone at couture week, with Naomi Campbell opening Azzedine Alaïa‘s return to the couture-week scene after a six-year hiatus. No sooner had the supermodel taken her first turn on the runway than Vogue Arabia’s camera started reeling.
Last Thursday also witnessed the official opening of the iconic Hôtel de Crillon. Owned by Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the newly renovated destination was commissioned to Karl Lagerfeld and two of Lebanon’s most prominent designers, Aline Asmar d’Amman and Chahan Minassian. An insider view of the project features in the July/August issue of Vogue Arabia. Subscribe here to get your copy.
Rami Kadi and Rami Al Ali showcased collections direct to Vogue Arabia, while Ashi Studio shared its collections in Vogue Arabia runway. Naturally, Zuhair Murad and Elie Saab’s Fall 2017 Couture collections set the front row into Instastories overdrive mode.
The game of musical chairs at the helm of the major fashion houses continued, with the breaking news Thursday last week about Bouchra Jarrar’s exit from Lanvin after just two collections. Sauce X Shourouk have released their collaboration online and Egyptian accessories designer Amr Saad previewed the new Apollo 590 collection on Vogue.me, before the weekend kicked off. Plus, we reported on The Modist rolling out its shopping offering in Arabic to add to its English content online – ready, steady, shop! Today, Vogue.me shared the news on the new Nora Al Shaikh Fall 2017 collection – with a boutique open in Jeddah for personal appointments, the future looks bright for this Saudi-based brand.
