Three couturiers, none of them born in Paris (Rahul Mishra, Stéphane Rolland and Tamara Ralph), offered contrasting visions of elegance, yet all inspired by a seductive pursuit of fashion excellence.
Rahul Mishra: We could be heroes
Few couturiers are as idiosyncratic as India's most famous couturier, Rahul Mishra, whose inspiration this season was the insect population.
Led by a giant silver month that appeared in the first glimpse of its notable show held inside a disused post-9th district office that has been hosting daily shows in both last week's menswear season and high season sewing this week.
“Insects have existed for 300 million years. They have created this entire kingdom that pollinated 90% of the species we see today. They created all the flowers and plants that humans consume,” explained Mishra, who like many Hindus does not eat meat or drink alcohol.
Rahul created various shapes of Petrie plates to showcase his embroidered and crystal butterflies, which were sewn onto the front of cocktail dresses. Just like the one worn by the Indian influencer Ananya in this program, the best to reach her 24 million followers on Instagram.
Arguably, no couturier outside of Italy and France has ever matched the couture quality of Mishra's collection. His extraordinary workshop and team (he has some 3,000 seamstresses in India) are even capable of making entire cocktail dresses of gold or silver mesh from pure embroidery. And he conjures up brilliant crystal insects and bees that were extraordinary. Followed by some impressive golden costumes with leaves that shot spectacularly into the air or a shiny top that was a platinum lepidoptera flapping its wings.
All very wisely styled by the stylist of the moment, Jenke Tailly.
His other inspiration was evident in the show, essentially the famous poem. Snake by D.H. Lawrence. Reflected in a gazar look where the image of a golden cobra seemed sprinkled on the dress.
Lots of stars in the audience, led by Charithra Chandran, who played the role of Edwina Sharma in Bridgerton. And who dominated the front row in Mishra's silver winged superhero top.
“Today, many insects are extinct. And there is a basic instinct when you see a snake or a lizard to kill it, due to human conditioning. But these creatures that came before us created this planet we live on. That is why I consider them superheroes,” Mishra emphasized.
“We are building a house in the hills of India. And the worrying thing is that children want to kill those insects, that's why I created the Petrie plate looks, so that a new generation can see these beautiful beings,” she detailed. Hopefully this program helps change that attitude.
Tamara Ralph: Goddesses at Shangri La
Tamara Ralph presented her second collection as an independent couturier and the results showed a couturier with much greater control of her workshop.
While last year she seemed to be building her couture team, this season she impressed with the impeccable finish of this collection, shown in a gilded Grand Empire room at the Shangri La Hotel.
Ralph, born in Australia but living on the Côte d'Azur, was handsome tailleurs cut Below the knee and made of dazzling golden beige wool bouclé. She cinched the jackets at her waist with modernist metal belts, everything looked great on her.
While her screen idol chiffon dresses in canary yellow and sweet mint were reminiscent of Adrian in her prime.
Tamara has always had a sense of humor, as seen in her conceptual golden columns, whose torso was topped with a model of a rancher. It said: Couture Atelier Tamara Ralph Paris 2024.
Surely a must-have red carpet look for an adventurous awards season nominee in Los Angeles. This is where Ralph has found new avid followers. No less than a team like Beyoncé, Penelope Cruz, Demi Moore, Halle Berry, Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba have worn his spectacular couture.
Not bad for a brand that debuted in the Paris season last year.
Stéphane Rolland: The delights of the desert
Stéphane Rolland, a generous gentleman, likes to put on a great show. So much so that Ralph enthusiastically set up a giant catwalk at the Salle Pleyel and invited 20 students from two of the best schools in Paris to open the show, each wearing a look each.
Students from the IFIM and Esmod fashion faculties who presented looks on a 15-meter-wide catwalk that covered the entire center of the famous concert hall. Few shows will be bigger this season than that of Stéphane, whose spring-summer 2024 collection was inspired by the desert.
A huge screen projected images of windblown dunes, caravanserais, camels and horsemen crossing the Sahara. Whereupon the cast appeared in diaphanous hooded robes in rosewood cashmere; asymmetrical silk gazar dresses; and extra-long houppelande dresses in crepe.
The looks were embellished and completed in braided leather, sparkled with crystals, and adorned with silicone vines.
A very exotic collection in terms of shape and silhouette, albeit in a restrained palette of burnished gold, salmon, tobacco and taupe. And all of this adorned with modernist amulets and necklaces.
The 32 Rollands seem to walk on a huge carpet of sand, while a giant eagle appeared on the screen and the soundtrack boomed. Scheherazadebefore trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf serenaded the final model, in a dark gazar cape dress with raffia fringes, off the runway with a wonderful jazz solo.
In a season of couture, Stéphane Rolland's grandeur felt quite uplifting and refreshing.
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