Angel dust and baby’s breath or how to make #couture modern.

It’s the seemingly eternal question in the fashion world, how to make couture modern. The twice a year fashion event that’s couture brings together the fashion press, celebrities and anonymous wealthy women all hungering for the next exquisite piece of clothing that no one else on earth will possess. The world of couture seems at odds with today’s digitally democratized, ever reproduced and knocked off marketplace of mediocrity. Everyone and everything looks the same – not true in the couture. If you can afford couture prices, you can have a wardrobe like no one else on planet earth. The problem is that 1% of the population is so small, and not all of them even buy couture. So, the client base that supports couture doesn’t sustain the business creating these delicious petits fours.

That’s wear ready to wear, jewelry, eyewear, handbags and licenses, licenses, licenses come in. The business of fashion keeps finding new ways to slap a designer’s name on items to enhance the bottom line and appease the global hedge funds and private equity firms that finance fashion. So, that’s why we continually ask the question, Is couture relevant in the modern world?

As a fashion devotee, I’d say yes, couture is relevant. That’s to say it’s as relevant as art, music, sports or even fine dining. It’s an expression of creativity that stands on it’s own merit. There’s no reason to defend the existince of a great painting. Most likely the painter didn’t make a huge some of money by producing the work and the coffers of the investment bankers only began to fill after the death of the artisit – Jeff Koons is the exception here. But, still, you get the concept – couture like art exists for the enjoyment of anyone that is lucky enough to experience it. Case closed. Couture is relevant. Let’s move on.

Of the many couture shows that happened this week in Paris, I have three favorites – Christian Dior, Versace and Valentino.

Dior
See the whole collection here.

Versace
See the whole collection here.

Valentino
See the whole collection here.

Givenchy
That brings us to the title of this post. What’s up with the angel dust and baby’s breath and what do they have to do with couture? To answer that question we have to go back to the Givenchy Spring 2015 menswear show. Riccardo Tisci showed his take on menswear in Paris just two days before the couture shows were set to open. So a lot of the couture editors were in town already. No mistake. Tisci’s man is more like a couture client anyway. But, his use of transparent diaphonous fabrics embellished with baby’s breath is what’s really exciting. This is menswear, remember. It’s as if Tisci slipped everyone a hit of Angel Dust as they entered the show and we were all transported to a distant fairy land where fashion’s gender codes don’t apply. Don’t be surprised to find yourself coveting one of Givenchy’s baby’s breath tank tops or polo shirts come spring 2015. Who cares if you’re a boy or a girl? Riccardo Tisci has seen the future of couture and it’s a man’s world. You’ve been warned. We’ve all been dusted with Givenchy fairy dust.

See the whole collection here.