Your Best & Worst Collections of Haute Couture F/W 2022.23

[vogue28]

We've got Valentino to look forward to tomorrow, but now that Paris has wrapped, I thought we'd waste no time in dissecting the best and worst of the week.

A very VERY strong couture week this season IMO, been left impressed more than I have underwhelmed. My absolute highlight was Schiaparelli, fawned over the entire Alexandre Vauthier show, as I did Zuhair Murad and Chanel. The majority of Balenciaga was spectacular too, and thought the casting and setting was the icing on the cake. I would have also given Olivier Rousteing a standing ovation at Jean Paul Gaultier, had I been there sat front row.

Maria Grazia Chiuri's Dior was of course dull as dishwater and I'm finding it increasingly hard to even stomach her take on such a historic brand. It's becoming painful to watch. As much as I love Kim Jones' Fendi RTW, his couture offerings have been weak and this season fell flat for me too.

What's been your personal highs and lows of the season?

 

[penny609]

Agree on Schiaparelli, I liked it a lot too. But I guess Viktor&Rolf won my heart again this season.

As for the worst, I don't really know... I saw some awkward, lazy or dull stuff here and there for sure but I haven't been apalled by any collection in particular.

 

[jeanclaude]

Best: Galliano at Margiela... but being Galliano again (although the presentation was horrible).

Worse: Mary at Dior was like staring at a blank space.

 

[Lola701]

Worst:
- Chanel & Fendi: Karl really left on a « Après moi le déluge » kind of scenario. Just dry, plain boring…Soporific.
And a lot of bad clothes too…

- Alexis Mabille & Giambattista Valli: It’s a no brainer a this point.

Best:
- Balenciaga: quite conservative and classic after all behind all those gimmicks and effects.
- Alexandre Vauthier: Fun, sexy but still classy. Amazing velvet and good tailoring even if it was quite safe.
- Gaultier by Rousteing: Fun and cheesy.
- Margiela by Galliano: Thank god I only watched the finale because I would have missed on really good clothes. Too Galliano for me but still good.

Special mention to Armani for keeping the spirit of Couture alive.

 

[perhydrol]

At this point it's safe to say that we shouldn't expect any great things coming from big houses as Dior, Chanel and Fendi were a complete non-event (as always). My special mention goes to Giambattista Valli because his collection was a shame. At least Gaultier, Vauthier, Armani and Viktor&Rolf were all really good.

 

[Salvatore]

I was waiting to see Valentino before I said anything, but now I can write my feelings :

Best:
Jean Paul Gaultier - I enjoyed the energy of the show by Olivier. There were some truly beautiful pieces despite some issues with execution. I thought he did a great job of combining his and Gaultier’s styles. It was much better than I was expecting.

Alexandre Vauthier - I love his brand of haute couture. It’s sexy and well executed.

Balenciaga - Demna surprises me with his ability in haute couture. It’s not perfect, but the drama is there and it was elegant to me.

Honorable Mention goes to Giorgio Armani because he stays true to himself and it is always sophisticated, classy, and elegant yet not stale. Also to Schiaparelli by Daniel Roseberry for his efforts. It didn’t move me how I would have liked, but I am rooting for him. Glad he used more colour too.

Worst:
Valentino - I have to hop off of the PPP train because this collection was just bad made more evident by the extravagant location. Also titling it “The Beginning” for what ? It was the exact same pieces he’s been doing for a while, yet they are much less interesting and novel now. It was like a ready to wear situation. For some reason this made me wonder if he’s about to leave Valentino soon …

Ronald Van Der Kemp - Ronald is such a sweetheart and his intentions are great, but there’s something that feels stiff and cheap about his offerings. It’s very thrift store. It just looked like a mess.

As for Dior, Chanel, Fendi, and the rest, I couldn’t really even be bothered to fully look after seeing a few looks.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Fav's were Balenciaga, Margiela, V&R, and Armani. Also I liked some of Valentino. Minus the performance crap Margiela was actually really beautiful. Love the Wyeth color palette. I hope they'll post more pics soon. Also the mento ilness materialistic part of me needs that pumpkin head mask lol. It was made of Taroni silk satin and antique velvet by the one and only Stephen Jones

However... the tabi cowboy boots were revolting.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Best: Dior, Schiaparelli, Maison Rabih Kayrouz

Worst: Valentino, Balenciaga, Chanel

 

[tricotineacetat]

Did anybody hear what happened with Olivier Theyskens at Azzaro?

I wasn't particularly taken with his efforts there, but the house seemed in a messy place much like other difficult houses, such as Cerruti, where it became unclear which product lines were overseen by Theyskens and which ones were not. The brand's online shop did little to unify the appearance of product and visuals under one cohesive lead by Olivier, which I'm sure he wasn't very happy with.

Something tells me the brand is with an unclear strategy and that lead to disharmony with Theyskens, and that we'll hear a statement of his departure soon.

 

[LadyJunon]

Did anybody hear what happened with Olivier Theyskens at Azzaro?

I wasn't particularly taken with his efforts there, but the house seemed in a messy place much like other difficult houses, such as Cerruti, where it became unclear which product lines were overseen by Theyskens and which ones were not. The brand's online shop did little to unify the appearance of product and visuals under one cohesive lead by Olivier, which I'm sure he wasn't very happy with.

Something tells me the brand is with an unclear strategy and that lead to disharmony with Theyskens, and that we'll hear a statement of his departure soon.

I'm hoping that it's Olivier inciting a rebrand and restructure or leaving at his own will. I don't think the poor man's psyche could take another house throwing him out.

 

[jeanclaude]

I hope Olivier grabs as much money as possible from Azzaro, so he can keep creating amazing collections like the last two.

 

[eugenius]

Best for me was Armani. No wacky gimmicks. No giant WTF moments. Just a solid collection of stylish clothes from beginning to end, with just a little dash of fantasy in, like, 2 pieces, without going into costume territory. And when you factor in the pretty models with the pretty hair and the pretty make-up, it all made for a fantastic runway presentation. And gorgeous jewelry, too! The jewelry was the icing on the cake, IMO.

From what little I saw online, I thought Yuima Nakazato looked good. I can't tell you anything about him or what his "thing" is, but I can see the start of something spectacular...or maybe I'm just biased towards Japanese couture designers.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Did anybody hear what happened with Olivier Theyskens at Azzaro?

I wasn't particularly taken with his efforts there, but the house seemed in a messy place much like other difficult houses, such as Cerruti, where it became unclear which product lines were overseen by Theyskens and which ones were not. The brand's online shop did little to unify the appearance of product and visuals under one cohesive lead by Olivier, which I'm sure he wasn't very happy with.

Something tells me the brand is with an unclear strategy and that lead to disharmony with Theyskens, and that we'll hear a statement of his departure soon.

This has been SO quiet in the press I had completely forgotten it was even happening. I think his debuting during the pandemic really stunted the energy around his arrival. Also Balenciaga took a lot of air out of the room as far as couture debuts went that season.

I just NOW had a look at what he did for SS 22.

I think maybe everyone else has forgotten, too.