Haute Couture Week. Day one

Haute Couture Week for the Fall–Winter 2025/2026 season has begun in Paris – a celebration of couture, a bit less lavish than before. As always during times of change, haute couture becomes a litmus test reflecting the overall state of the industry. This season’s schedule has been noticeably reduced: key fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, and many others are absent. This starkly highlights the crisis that has gripped the luxury segment.

Nevertheless, the first day proved to be rich and inspiring: from Schiaparelli to Tamara Ralph – capes adorned with metal stars, pearl corsets, satin and crêpe de chine interpreted with special delicacy. Paris once again plunged into a fairytale where fashion becomes a metaphor for the times and a reflection of the inner world, expressed through the luxury of fabrics, refinement of lines, and jeweled details.

Schiaparelli 

A poetic dialogue with the past and philosophical reflections on the future are once again present in Schiaparelli’s new haute couture collection. Creative director Daniel Roseberry refers to the year 1940 – the moment Elsa Schiaparelli left Paris and fashion stood on the brink of transformation. The black-and-white palette of the garments symbolizes a cleansing from excess and a return to origins. In place of the usual technological gloss are fabrics infused with the spirit of the old world: Donegal wool, satin, organza, and handcrafted ceramic elements. The house’s legendary codes are preserved – signature cutouts and anatomical motifs; the trompe l’oeil effect (French for "optical illusion") permeates the entire show, from makeup to voluminous embroidery that transforms garments into surreal illusions. Wow looks: the iconic “Apollonian” cape is reimagined as a cascade of metallic bijoux-stars, a gown shaped like a whirlwind of silk organza with 3D embroidery in the form of seashells, matador-style jackets adorned with baroque pearls and black rhinestones. A dress featuring a hand-painted eye framed by metal lashes becomes the final chord and a metaphor for insight.

Georges Hobeika 

The couture collection by Georges Hobeika – “New Order” – is a literary response to the chaos of the modern world. In an era of uncertainty, rapid change, and technological upheaval, the father-son design duo offers not escape but contemplation: a moment of silence in which beauty becomes an act of resistance. This is a philosophical platform where each stitch carries meaning, and the silhouette – significance. 

Hobeika returns to origins – drawing, tailoring craftsmanship, hand embroidery – disciplines that become their personal form of a manifesto. They create garments where sensuality and austerity coexist, allowing a new harmony to emerge. Here, the corset becomes a symbol of willpower, and the lightness of fabric – a metaphor for liberation.

The collection holds special significance as the brand celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Imane Ayissi 

Imane Ayissi presented the collection Ikorrok – translated from the Ewondo language as “a garden left fallow.” Through this metaphor, the designer raises the issue of healing nature and rethinking our relationship with it. A visual poem in which fashion speaks in the language of flora and fauna, the collection is filled with floral and animal motifs embroidered with beads in the spirit of Yoruba culture. The fabrics are adorned with appliqués, embroidery, and patterns. Special attention is paid to sustainability: some looks are made from French wool felt and decorated with porcelain, semi-precious stones, and urushi lacquer, created in collaboration with artist Aline Putot-Toupry.

Tony Ward 

An adventure “between dream and gaze”, the collection by Lebanese brand Tony Ward becomes an act of self-expression. Inspired by the mysterious atmosphere of masquerade and the tense dramaturgy of theater, the couturier offers not just fashion, but a powerful language of visual self-discovery. Archetypes of the stage and symbols of artistic expression transform into the new DNA of contemporary couture.

Baroque opulence is reinterpreted through the lens of the future: exquisite embroidery, architectural forms, 3D appliqués, and sculptural silhouettes do not retreat into the past, but speak of transformation. Everything is symbolic: the mask is not a shield but a mirror reflecting inner worlds; pearls enter a dialogue with transparency and graphic structures, shedding their fragility and acquiring character; corsets sharpen silhouettes, lending strength to soft fabrics. The color palette is contrasting and multifaceted: cool blue and pink shades pulse with energy, while amber, garnet, and earthy tones bring dramatic balance.

Rahul Mishra 

The Indian designer presented a new collection titled “Becoming Love” – a meditative exploration of love as the highest form of transformation. Rahul Mishra turns to Sufi philosophy, which views love as a path through seven stages – from the first spark of attraction to complete dissolution in another, where the “I” disappears. The collection becomes a visual narrative of this journey, of inner growth, devotion, and peace. With the first looks on the runway, a morning tenderness is born – pastels, translucent fabrics, and delicate embroidery. Gradually, the colors intensify, the forms become more complex, and the silhouettes become more saturated. Floral motifs and shimmering elements seem to convey the emotional transitions: from gentle affection to obsession and sacrificial merging. Mishra masterfully combines ancient knowledge and the highest couture craftsmanship, turning fabric into metaphor.

Lena Erziak

The collection titled “Iron Sakura” by Lena Erziak is a narrative woven from steel and silk, strength and grace: a tribute to women whose softness holds unbreakable power. Inspired by a journey to Japan and memories of postwar Paris, the designer merges the architectural sensuality of the 1950s with the deep tradition of the kimono.

At the heart of the aesthetic is a rethinking of the bullet bra silhouette: sharp lines, accentuated waist, and stiff corsets become symbols of female authority, not adornments. Sculptural forms evoke not fragility but the discipline of samurai and the grace of geishas. The kimono here is not merely clothing – it’s armor, a code, a symbol of respect. To create the looks, Erziak uses vintage materials, and sakura embroidery adorns most pieces as a reminder of nature’s ephemerality and resilience.

Tamara Ralph 

“Rare Pearl” – the new collection by designer Tamara Ralph – fuses the spirit of haute couture with the aesthetics of Art Deco. It is an ode to refined luxury and geometric elegance in winter white, cream, soft blush, and shimmering rose gold.

Corsets are crafted with jeweler’s precision, while draped fabrics – satin and crêpe de chine – flow over the body with the almost intangible lightness of crystal. Accessories, pearl and crystal pendants, cascade like exquisite sculpture, framing the neck and décolleté. Some gowns resemble classic chandeliers. Each look is perfectly completed with gemstone-encrusted shoes, emphasizing the artistic unity of the collection.

Photos are provided by PR departments of the brands.