Paris couture evolved notably this season, exhibiting a shift towards lighter textiles and grounded aesthetics both in fabric choice and overarching design philosophy. Despite high-profile presentations at Chanel, Dior, Armani Privé, and amidst the somber note of Valentino Garavani's passing, the defining theme was measured restraint paired with visual impact. The garments showcased intricate craftsmanship that remained wearable and dynamic, eschewing museum-piece stiffness.
Transparency emerged as a dominant theme but focused less on exposure and more on delicate, floating construction. Chanel's founder Matthieu Blazy debuted his first couture collection with the house's signature skirt suit reimagined in sheer blush organza, delivering a familiar silhouette with a ghostly lightness. Celebrity attendees embodied this balance; Nicole Kidman’s black feather-adorned Chanel paired with pearls exemplified a robust elegance, while Gracie Abrams’s electric yellow fringed tweed added an airy vibrancy.
Tailoring across the board was meticulously precise, counterbalanced by ethereal fabrics. Dior, under Jonathan Anderson, juxtaposed nearly translucent ribbed tanks with richly embroidered skirts, blending couture elegance with everyday practicality. Armani Privé, led by Silvana Armani in her first couture presentation following Giorgio Armani's recent passing, reinforced an impression of opulent yet effortless lightness. Their collection featured airy organza shirts and layered, sparkling "mille-feuille" gowns adorned with micro-crystals that shimmered without weight.
Elie Saab continued the trend of graceful lightness, seamlessly integrating embroidery with tulle and fringe that cascaded like molten metal. Schiaparelli embraced the sheer aesthetic vividly, with Teyana Taylor wearing a sheer lace dress layered with jewelry, embodying an intimate couture statement.
Significantly, couture edged closer to wearable fashion throughout the week. Blazy framed Chanel's collection as "real-life couture," designed for varied daily activities without sacrificing sophistication. Anderson at Dior challenged traditions by using structured knits crafted with haute couture precision as alternatives to conventional corsetry. Practicality was exhibited by Dior’s ambassador Jennifer Lawrence, who combined an oversized Dior men's coat with casual jeans and shoes, mirroring the trend towards relaxed elegance. Armani Privé’s repertoire emphasized simplified offerings: relaxed suits, softened tailoring, and refined glamour that afforded movement and comfort. Even Elie Saab adapted his red-carpet sensibilities into more approachable silhouettes comprising tank tops paired with skirts, presenting a modern red-carpet uniform.
The designs leaned heavily on natural motifs but treated them as ideological symbols rather than mere decoration, highlighting themes of freedom, transformation, and escape. Chanel incorporated birds that appeared in feathered effects, detailed buttons, and embroidery, imparting a dreamlike quality. Dior’s inspiration featured cyclamen flowers prominently in oversized earrings, blending reverence with reinvention. Schiaparelli adopted a more provocative interpretation of nature through animalistic elements such as wings, spikes, claws, and scorpion motifs, altering the body's appearance to something almost formidable. Lauren Sánchez Bezos personified this with a vivid blood-red Schiaparelli skirt suit resonating as a natural warning signal. Dakota Johnson’s look at Valentino was characterized by bold animal prints coupled with black lace shorts. The Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf underscored themes of flight and transformation by incorporating removable kite-like elements that transformed grounded black pieces into vibrant, whimsical statements.
Despite the prominence of softness and lightness, volumes were skillfully engineered to maintain structure. Dior’s Anderson commenced the show with meticulously ruched tulle crafting an hourglass silhouette without conventional armor-like rigidity. Stéphane Rolland utilized geometry and Cubist influences for garments including balloon pants, jumpsuits, and coats, skillfully combining gazar and satin finished with stone embellishments and sharp accessories. Schiaparelli treated couture as a form of sculpture, embedding protrusions and rigid forms that bridged fashion with performance art. Zuhair Murad emphasized architectural control with ribbed gowns, pronounced mermaid lines, and intensely detailed surface work that ensured presence and impact.
Color palettes across collections often rested in subtle, muted tones — blush, pale pink, sand, celadon — leveraging texture and detail to generate drama. Armani Privé’s range was marked by jade hues and gentle pastels curated with controlled discretion. Guest appearances echoed this sensibility; Kate Hudson wore a baby-pink sequined top paired with black velvet trousers to Armani Privé, embodying a photo-ready interpretation of pastel understated glamour. Chanel's soft blush transparencies rendered a contemporary romance, while Saab introduced metallic gradients that shifted fluidly over dresses, offering a fresh take on shimmer. Contrasting these subdued tones, Rolland injected bursts of rich burgundy, caramel, and red juxtaposed against stark monochromes. Valentino, through Alessandro Michele’s meticulously staged show, offered the week’s most pronounced statement in the iconic Valentino red closing line.