OF FASHION & FRAGRANCE

A new week of fashion shows has ended. And not just any old shows, because these were the ones that make Paris both unique and essential: it was Haute Couture week. Devoted to the upcoming Spring-Summer 2011 season, 21 houses – all members of the “Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture” –showed this week, including many houses with attention-grabbing fragrance news, too. New perfume launches, reinterpretations of existing fragrances and new communication campaigns are all in the works for a number of Haute Couture houses in 2011 – and their collections set the tone!

Report by Lydie Valentin - the thought*

Until now, Elie Saab had excelled in the art of red-carpet style evening gowns, yet his spring-summer 2011 Haute Couture collection was surprisingly fresh and delicate. The designer has turned away from his usual palette, the better to explore the nuances of a spring-like range of hues, from nude to cerise via pistachio, lavender and pale gray. While his dresses are still long, with bows focusing attention on the waists, they have come alive thanks to lacy fringes, crazy embroidery, clever overlays and playfully sheer fabrics. The overall effect is one of a subtle, refined image of femininity – in a word: charming! The collection revisits the house’s codes without overthrowing them, and its slightly pared-down modern lines prefigure the house’s very first perfume, whose launch is scheduled for summer 2011.