Haute Couture Week is built around craftsmanship first, hundreds of hours of handwork behind every piece shown, but the guest list has always been worth watching too. Schiaparelli opened the week as one of its most anticipated fixtures, with Daniel Roseberry's The Abyss collection charting a course from shoreline to ocean floor, iridescent gowns and shell-like motifs giving way to silicone tentacles and vertebrae-inspired stitching as the collection went deeper. Michelle Yeoh sat front row in an elegant black off-shoulder look, a study in contrast next to Emma Corrin's surrealist feathered jacket, complete with sculpted bird beaks.
Dior's sculptural turn
Jonathan Anderson's sophomore couture collection for Dior took its cues from sculptor Lynda Benglis, treating the atelier's hand-plissé, knotting and draping techniques as sculptural exercises in their own right. For the occasion, the house lent looks from its Resort 2027 collection to Sabrina Carpenter and Han Sohee, both arriving in ethereal, floral-embellished draped gowns.
What's still ahead
The week's remaining calendar carries some of its biggest storylines yet: Pierpaolo Piccioli's haute couture debut for Balenciaga, with PP Krit expected front row, Duran Lantink's first collection as creative director of Jean Paul Gaultier, and Manish Malhotra becoming only the fourth Indian designer to show on the official Haute Couture Week calendar. If the opening days are any indication, the front row is shaping up to match the runway story for story.