Paris Haute Couture | Atelier VERSACE Spring 2016 Couture

Glorification of every curve of a woman’s body through clothing if there’s one house that owns that idea, it’s Versace. Under Donatella Versace’s reign, the label has recently taken a feminist slant, angling away from the notion of woman as rock-star arm candy and nightclub predator. Versace’s Fall ready-to-wear was a refreshing tour de force in glam urban militaria, but how to follow that in couture? The Rio Olympics are coming up in August, so maybe that’s what sent Donatella in the direction of female power through athleticism the body used to achieve personal goals that aren’t to do with man-catching sexuality. Well, that’s what the soundtrack pointed us toward, anyway: a narrative by Violet, speaking out about “feminine strength to overcome obstacles.”

Nonetheless, this Versace Altelier collection was a full-on old-school display of cutaway, plunge, curve, slash, and skin display. After an opener of optic white tailoring and taut ski pants, it was on with the real business: feats of dressmaking engineering involving asymmetrical patchworked geometries, suspension by Swarovski ropes and twisted straps, embroidered and printed ergonomic patterns, skewed sequined checkerboards and poured silicone grills. In her couture collection, Donatella is determined to add new science to traditional techniques, and she noted that the work in this show was some of the most time-consuming she’s ever devised. Still, labor and complexity don’t always sell a dress. After all the body-con gowns and fitted minidresses, it was the moment when she broke free of the sporty theme with a few light, sheer dance-dress silhouettes with full, airy skirts that looked best.

Enjoy the Atelier VERSACE Spring 016 Haute Couture runway show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea 
 

  Donatella Versace

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Photo Credit/Source: The House of VERSACE

Photos by Yannis Vlamos/Indigital.com

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'Paris Haute Couture | CHANEL Spring 2016 Couture'

A ray of sunlight pierces the Parisian skies on a cloudy January 26th, and illuminates the dome of the Grand Palais. Like a reminder of spring in the middle of winter, it signals the start of Karl Lagerfeld’s Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2016 collection show. In an exaltingly bucolic set, a wooden house with closed shutters blends in with the vegetation. The door opens to reveal the first silhouettes. One by one, seeming to slow their pace to better take advantage of the moment, the models wander through this Eden.

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Paris Haute Couture | Atelier VERSACE Fall 2015 Couture

Fairies are real on the Atelier VERSACE runway, at least. For Fall, Donatella and co. sent out a parade of delicate pieces inspired by the flora and fauna of the forest. “It’s a bit romantic,” said Donatella Versace, sounding a touch surprised at herself. “I’m‎ not a piece of wood all the time!” So here was a softened-up, tendrilly vision for Atelier Versace: couture festival girls in garlanded headbands, vaguely Renaissance-medieval sleeves, and raw-edged chiffon trailing off in ethereal directions on a glass runway paved over hundreds of mauve, purple, and green orchids. 26,000 orchids were laid on the runway underneath glass panels, while a Medusa head made by the blooms framed the entrance to the runway.

One of Donatella Versace’s signatures is her smoky eye, but this season the designer and makeup guru Pat McGrath decided it was time to inject some color and brighten up. “We’re keeping it sexy but giving it a much lighter feel with pale, shimmery greens, using the same tone for every girl,” the face painter noted backstage before the show. “It’s much more romantic but still a little tough.” Continuing her thought, mane master Guido Palau added: “It’s about natural hair but very rock ’n’ roll and a little ’70s in a way really cool couture.” The pro left strands long and loose, then roughed them up with Redken Wind Blown texturizing spray. “They look like beautiful nymphs in gorgeous dresses with headbands,” he said. Speaking in chorus, the duo noted that once they saw the collection anchored by those leafy crowns, it instantly sealed the feel of their final beauty look: “It’s healthy, beautiful skin that glows to perfection,” explained McGrath of the high-fashion fairies who floated down the orchid-strewn runway. Based on high-gloss platform boots, thigh-grazing slits, and skin-baring cutouts, however, we have a feeling these otherworldly nymphs have a naughty side.

Discover Atelier VERSACE Haute Couture runway show at  the end of this post! 

LoL, Andrea 

Was Donatella channeling a fantasy somewhere out of Stevie Nicks via Game of Thrones? Wherever the ideas originated, the results the dusty pastels and grays, the appearance of drifty, almost disintegrating fabrics were dispensed without harsh color, hard silhouettes, and logos. Still, the underpinnings relied on signature Versace craftsmanship: the network of boned corsetry glimpsed through chiffon, as well as the embroidery and use of chainmail all superb. In a preview, Donatella said some of the dresses had taken four to six hundred hours of work days of labor to make something so fitted it almost appears to have grown onto a girl’s body‎ rather than sewn by human hand. That’s the mystique of couture.

 Amid the corseting and pastel flowers came a gown worn by Daria Strokous 

complete with a voluminous, tiered skirt and a cutout over the thighs all the better to show off her strut.

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: The House of Atelier VERSACE

Stills by ANDREA JANKE via Instagram @andreajankeofficial

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'Impressions from Paris Haute Couture'

Paris Haute Couture Week will start on Sunday, July 5th to 9th, 2015, Excited to await this fabulous couture event, I'd like to present you a summary of my favourite Haute Couture shows for spring 2015 presented last January, starting with Dior, VALENTINO, ALBRECHT OLLENDIEK, Atelier Versace, ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER, Chanel, ELIE SAAB, LA PERLA Atelier, ARMANI Privé, Giambattista Valli, Maison Margiela by John Galliano - enjoy!

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