Re-Inventing the Runway

RUNWAY Web3: Re-Inventing the Runway is a new chapter in a series of revolutionary immersive experiences exploring the fashion runway show, the most spectacular looks of the great fashion designers and fashion houses. It is not a documentary from the past shown in the big screens, it is the real-live experience allowing us to embrace the imagination and see the present and the future of fashion.

These unforgettable experiences created by RUNWAY magazine brings together the industry's leading voices from the present, uniting them and leading them to the future. With a rich mixture of media and technology, Re-Inventing the Runway immersive experience reveals how new technology can bring so intimately the ultimate statement of a designer's vision to us, transforming the way we interact with the iconic styles of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Moncler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Prada, and Versace.

This immersive experience is an exploration of fashion, is a visionary approach to blending this vision with interactive, digital experiences. It is a celebration of the imagination and passion that has revolutionized how we experience fashion at first hand. 

Re-Inventing the Runway is both visceral and insightful, with 3D designed environment, 3D looks, graphics and sound design, all of which will evoke our world of imagination where iconic runways shift the cultural landscape, and where we are creators of it.

Within this immersive experience we can emerge with the imagination of a designer, experiencing the forms as if they were physically present. This feature not only brings the runway to us but also empowers us, as we are no longer passive observers, we are active figures. Re-Inventing the Runway is our environment to explore, dream, and discover, guided by the seamless interface of a truly revolutionary 3D fashion experience.

Screenshot featuring Moncler look created by Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2019

Screenshot featuring Valentino look created by Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2023 “PP Pink” collection

Screenshot featuring Jean Paul Gaultier look 2023-2024 “Haute Jeanerie – Fashion Fiction”

Gamifying Journalism

This innovative Web3 experience gamifies traditional media’s expert journalistic review. It transforms opinion, analyses, observations, photos and texts into a new form of media expression. This is a unique and interactive way to express opinions. Through this experience, Runway Magazine pioneers new storytelling methods.

Incorporating elements of gamification, Re-Inventing the Runway experience educates us about the nuances of fashion design and trends through interactive participation. It’s a bold redefinition of the media's role in the fashion industry, turning passive observation into an engaging journey. This approach allows RUNWAY Magazine to creatively present and transform visuals into an informative and expressive new format.

Re-Inventing the Runway is more than just a digital experience, it is the harbinger of the future of fashion media. By merging editorial content with virtual interaction, RUNWAY continues to lead the way in innovative, immersive journalism.

As we chart new courses in the vast seas of imagination and technology, this experience stands as a testament to the endless possibilities at the intersection of fashion, art, and digital landscapes. This revolutionary approach not only respects but revitalizes the traditional media format, inviting users worldwide to step into the future of fashion and beyond.

Re-Inventing the Runway new chapter in a series of revolutionary immersive experiences by RUNWAY magazine will be released in September 2024. It'll be available on RUNWAY magazine digital at RUNWAYMAGAZINES.com and RUNWAYUNIVERSE.com - dedicated hosting for all Web3 experiences developed by RUNWAY magazine.

RUNWAY Web3 experiences are accessible on all computers, they are also adapted for slow internet connection. All connections to the Web3 environments are private. These experiences are also adapted for mobile devices, installation of an app is required.

Screenshot featuring Valentino look created by Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2023 “PP Pink” collection

Screenshot featuring Jean Paul Gaultier look 2023-2024 “Haute Jeanerie – Fashion Fiction”

Screenshot featuring Jean Paul Gaultier look 2023-2024 “Haute Jeanerie – Fashion Fiction”

Michael Kors Spring 2023 New York Runway

Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway. Anne Hathaway attended the show as Andy from Devil Wears Prada. Story by RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Michael Kors / GettyImages.

Michael Kors presented Spring Summer 2023, or perhaps resort summer collection today dedicated as always to New York. He defined this collection as a tribute to polish and sleek elegance of big city.

Urban Resort – that is how Michael Kors defined his new collection. With a runway that juxtaposed the sleekness of the city with greenery inspired by a resort getaway, the show celebrated the fusion of urbanity and nature. Big city polish juxtaposed with relaxed resort glamour, which premiered live this morning on a palm-lined on New York Runway.

Anne Hathaway attended the show, and probably without a special impression she took look of Andy from Devil Wears Prada. Massive comments about this comic appearance blow all social media networks. And yes, she stole the show.

Anne Hathaway as Andy from Devil Wears Prada, Anna Wintour at Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway

The Starbucks coffee mug is noted under the seat of Anna Wintour… Did Andy bring it to her?

Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway Magazine

Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway Magazine

Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway Magazine

Read MORE and see ALL LOOKS Michael Kors Spring Summer 2023 New York Runway HERE

25th Anniversary Fendi Baguette New York show

25th Anniversary Fendi Baguette New York show. Fendi Resort 2023. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

To celebrate 25 years Fendi Baguette Silvia Venturini Fendi decided to bring fabulous Fendi Spring 2023 show in New York City. The show took place at historic Hammerstein Ballroom, at Manhattan Center. Her show was not part of New York Fashion Week, even though it was a first day of the fashion week Spring Summer 2023 season. 

The house unveiled a special fashion show spotlighting iterations of the Iconic style designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones in collaboration with Marc Jacobs, Tiffany and Co, Porter Yoshida and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“It was a special day when I designed this bag; the stars aligned. The horoscope said it was a Fendi day,” – said Silvia Venturini Fendi

“I didn’t want to do a traditional ‘collection’ for the anniversary. Rather it’s a celebration of a time, of the moment the Baguette became famous. I relate that time to a sense of freedom in excess and fun – both qualities the Baguette possesses,” – said Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Womenswear, Fendi.

“I’ve got one word: Fendiroma. And it is one word! It is another land, this Fendiroma… And I’ve got two words: The Baguette. It’s a bag – and I am never one to shy away from an iconic bag,” – said Marc Jacobs, Creative Director and Founder, Marc Jacobs.

At once interpretations and celebrations of the Baguette in this 25th Anniversary year, the collections of Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi at Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Tiffany & Co, Sarah Jessica Parker and Porter pay tribute to the bag and the city in which its place in pop culture history was sealed – New York.

See Fendi Baguette all collection of bags from the show HERE.

See all celebrities, Sarah Jessica Parker, Linda Evangelista, Marc Jacobs, Kim Kardashian, Kim Jones, Grace Jones who came to celebrate 25th anniversary Fendi Baguette HERE.

Moved Sarah Jessica Parker said that “I finally left the house and landed in Fendi wonderland. Our top secret collaboration on the iconic Fendi baguette was revealed on the runway tonight, and four colorways are due to arrive sparkly and ready just in time for the holidays. This eve I got to Carrie/carry the lavender delight. The whole show was a feast.”

Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Kardashian at 25 years Fendi Baguette Runway Magazine

Linda Evangelista at 25 years Fendi Baguette Runway Magazine

Taking inspiration from the object itself, a moment in time, as well as the spirit and geography of place, the Baguette is realised in a multiplicity of ways, both in terms of clothing and accessories, reflecting the maker as much as the iconic item, while never neglecting the enjoyment and sense of celebration for the wearer.

In this rough-cut romance between uptown and downtown, luxury and utility, excess and reality, the Baguette and the clothing and accessories it inspires are at once defined as a moment in history and part of a continuum with today.

For Fendi, the essential utility of the bag becomes a multi-pocketed motif, migrating throughout the collection. The unmistakable Baguette dimensions made mini and micro pockets, appearing on parkas to gaiters, roving all over the body, covering gloves, hats, skirts, sweaters and, of course, the bag itself in one of its new iterations. In contrast and cohesion, a sense of hyper-luxe and glossy glamour pervades the collection – the Baguette is not entirely utilitarian after all. Those gaiters are made from silk satin, that parka shaved mink or glossy leather; a stratification of sequins and biased cut silks are often layered beneath, adding a shimmer of art deco allure.

For Marc Jacobs, grand dimensions from another time are contrasted with the humble origins of today and in so doing banish notions of costume in his collection. A reflection of the glittering and gritty New York cityscape the casual is made formal in parachute train skirts, balloon-backed broken denim jackets, rustling cellophane opera capes and fluro recycled fur stoles and hats. The glitter of rhinestones, silver, and fluro yellow pervades, becoming an almost literal example of ‘local colour’; inspired by the glass frontages and workman’s safety vests to be found on the city’s streets.

Exaggerated, platformed and oversized, the take on the Baguette itself also shares something of these silhouettes’ grand gestures – elongated and gleaming, replete with multiple mini versions of itself attached. ‘Fendi at Tiffany’s’ might be the name for the meeting of these two grand edifices. Here, the storied New York institution takes on the Baguette and reimagines it in its most precious of forms, through its use of sterling silver, enamel, croco, white gold and diamonds.

The T and the F complement each other in logo white gold fastenings, encrusted in diamonds while shining crocodile takes on the hue of Tiffany Blue – a colour which also irresistibly permeates the Fendi clothing palette. Perhaps most startling of all is an unprecedented Baguette made entirely of stippled sterling silver. Crafted by hand over a period of four months by the Tiffany artisans, the bag is engraved with lilies and roses – the national flower of Italy and New York State, respectively. It is also the first of Fendi’s ‘Hand in Hand’ partnerships to come from outside Italy and is a measure of Tiffany & Co’s superlative

craftsmanship.

“It’s not a bag, it’s a Baguette,” declared Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City and the pop apotheosis of the Baguette was complete. It is a statement that is also inscribed inside each of SJP’s capsule bags, or rather Baguettes. Designed alongside SVF (that’s Silvia Venturini Fendi), embroidered in degradé sequins with a palette of purple, wasabi, baby pink or soft blue, the bags feature four interchangeable buckles to suit the wearer’s mood.

In contrast, the supreme utility of the Japanese luggage brand Porter, gives the Baguette a decidedly masculine bent. Known for their hard-wearing bonded nylon – that nevertheless exudes beauty and luxury – together with precision Japanese craftsmanship, here lightness and functionality are key. The Porter collection is also a proponent of one of the Baguette’s latest incarnations: the Bum Baguette.

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

25 years Fendi Baguette New York Show - Fendi Resort 2023 Runway Magazine

Photo Courtesy: Fendi / GettyImages

New York Fashion Week 2022 Opening Night

New York Fashion Week 2022 Opening Night. New York Fashion Week 2022 is a swag – New York Mayor Eric Adams. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

Yep, it’s official. New York Fashion Week is a swag, according to nightlife New York Mayor Eric Adams. And yes, he opened New York Fashion Week last night, the night when the whole world mourn Queen Elizabeth II.

“New York is as cool as can be right now,” Eric Adams said in his opening speech, “in Gracie Mansion with this room full of folks with swag.”

Swag – Swagger meaning: walk or behave in a very arrogant or aggressive way.

Swag is a slang which came from 1960s. Back there it meant “loot”, and it came from a term thieves used to describe stolen goods. And it is how, according to Merriam-Webster, swag became a new world for “freebies”, promotional free given goods. Where New York Mayor Eric Adams got this slang from, you might ask? Check out his biography. Former policemen, who straighten up his life after looting. Does he really?

New York Mayor Eric Adams, Anna Wintour, Steven Kolb, CFDA CEO - NYFW 2022

New York Mayor Eric Adams was co-hosting the opening party with Steven Kolb, CEO of the Council of the Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and Anna Wintour. This is the second fashion week since Adams took office. During his first, in February, he was seen sitting in the front row at Michael Kors’s runway show, beside Wintour. He also attended the Met Gala, and Balenciaga show.

New York Times published a very sarcastic article “Mr. Mayor, Who Are You Wearing?” about this opening New York Fashion Week night and Eric Adams.

Vanity Fair went even further: “The New York Times recently published a front-page story that focused on the mechanics and finances of Adams’s regular evenings at the restaurant Osteria La Baia, which is run by two friends, the brothers Robert and Zhan Petrosyants, who pleaded guilty to felony charges in 2014 after federal prosecutors accused them of money laundering.” And this is just top of the hill.

That night went “swaggingly” well.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, Anna Wintour, Steven Kolb, CFDA CEO - NYFW 2022

Eric Adams published on his instagram several photos about this event with the description: “There’s a reason New York City is home to Fashion Week, just look around our city and check out all the incredible style! It was an honor to join CFDA and Vogue Magazine last night to help kick off New York Fashion Week 2022. Let’s head to the runway!”

He received massive wave of the comments like this one: “Are you going to get the drug addicts, criminals. and homeless off the street or just continue to prance around like a socialite???”

To add here New York officials recently declared a disaster due to polio outbreak In New York which have infected THOUSANDS in the state. It comes after officials announced the detection of the virus in wastewater in April 2022. But how this problem can be compared to fashion, and “business” dinners at Osteria La Baia, owned by felons-friends?

But let’s face it, the best way according to the Mayor Adams is to battle criminals with fashion. In the article on CFDA website, describing this evening and speech of Eric Adams, he was expressing his admiration to fashion and his personal fashion sense, “When I want to place emphasis on ending gun violence, a designer comes to me to design my tuxedo with “End Gun Violence” on the back of it drawn over the entire subway system to show we must be safe in our city.”

That’s one way to do it…. But not the way a mayor should. Even Mayor in “Jews” didn’t go that far!

New York Mayor Eric Adams, Anna Wintour, Steven Kolb, Michael Kors, Thom Browne - NYFW 2022

Eric Adams also expressed his admiration to Anna Wintour: “No person personifies the spirit and energy more than Anna, the Angel that Wears Prada. Her love for this city is remarkable. Her dedication, commitment, and how she talks about what this city will become.” Another personal friend, I presume.

Mayor Adams is also announced that “This week, we will move about and know you are a 600-million-dollar juggernaut just in this week alone. That is twice the amount we make than if we had the Superbowl here. You bring the economy to the city with 100,000 employees, 100 million dollars’ tax revenue; you bring the character, the posture, and the stance of this city; you are the exclamation point of New York. New York is back! We are live; we will bring the artistic energy and the diversity we are known for. We will make this a signature event every year that I am Mayor.”

Who gave him these numbers? These numbers were valid when designers like Ralph Lauren participated in New York Fashion Week. But I guess these numbers were not calculated by the participants at the New York Fashion Week. These are just global numbers of fashion business in USA. Who he wants to fool? This New York Fashion Week, like any other previous fashion week is a week presenting mainly emerging designers who don’t have this kind of money to invest in one show, and hire so many people. Get real!

Mayor Eric Adams, Anna Wintour, Tommy Hilfiger at Gracie Mansion - NYFW 2022 opening

Steven Kolb, CFDA CEO, was also quite pleased with the new New York administration and the way Mayor is handling the fashion industry. “I love that he opened Gracie Mansion. Mayor Di Blasio did this 8 years ago, but this is different. He supported manufacturing initiatives and economic development; he saw it and elevated and collaborated on it. Mayor Adams sees that too, but he also sees the creativity. He understands the seriousness of fashion but also the magic of it,” he said.

This evening attended “swaggers”: Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Thom Browne, Tory Burch, Vera Wang, Stan Herman, Andrew Bolton, Victor Glemaud, Karlie Kloss, Aurora James, Emily Ratajkowski, Cynthia Rowley, Rebecca Minkoff, Stacy Bendet, Lauren Santo Domingo, Derek Blasberg, Willy Chavarria, Dee Ocleppo, Bach Mai and Carly Cushnie among others.

Swag it all off, guys! Perhaps this is a time for a new clean start for these emerging designers who are so eager to show what they are capable of. After all New York is always rich on talents.

Photo Courtesy: Mayor Eric Adams / BFA

Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Best of

Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Best of.

Dior Haute Couture Fall 2022-2023 folklore and tradition “From Ukraine with love”.

The tree of life is at the heart of Ukrainian artist Olesia Trofymenko’s work, and the starting point for the Dior fall winter 2022-2023 Haute Couture collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri. Painting and embroidery give an emotional charge to this image that is a symbol for different far-flung cultures and mythologies.

Dior Haute Couture Fall 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Chanel Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 “Blurring reality”. 

Virginie Viard, artistic director of Chanel invited artist Xavier Veilhan to collaborate for this collection. He made a film with blurred dog, car and the shark, featuring himself alongside Chanel ambassador Charlotte Casiraghi, musician Sebastien Tellier and model Vivienne Rohner. Virginie Viard adored this fantasy universe, populated by animals and playfully shaped objects.

Chanel Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Giorgio Armani Privé Fall Winter 2022-2023 explores realism, a distinctive trait within Giorgio Armani’s style, always filtered through his personal vision and interpreted through refined art, is a constant presence in a collection that arises from the need to give new space to sparkle and frivolity, offering an escape into dreams and creativity.

Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Balenciaga Couture Fall 2022-2023 “Latex on, latex off and Daft Punk forever”. 

Black, faceless, masked, and latexed Balenciaga couture collection 51 presented today by Demna Gvasalia / Demna of Destruction. This show was some sort of kaleidoscope of disorder, peasant jean looks as a reminded of Levi’s prisoner uniform from the beginning of XX century in California, known today as model 501, Daft Punk helmets, fabulous pieces from the archives by Cristóbal Balenciaga, founder of the house. Today it is all Couture according to Demna. But where’s Couture, where’s Balenciaga? And let’s hope he credited Tony Gardner, the original creator of this fabulous glossy helmets / headpieces.

On the runway we saw Kim Kardashian, Nicole Kidman, Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa and Naomi Campbell. Latex on, latex off approach and Daft Punk forever!

Balenciaga Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Elie Saab Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 “The Beginning of Twilight” . 

Another collection of Elie Saab with voluminous shiluettes and beads…. lots and lots of beads. Read carpet dresses more and more becoming “Stay Home” dress-robes. It is another collection of Elie Saab we all know. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Elie Saab enveloped the mystery, and we wrapped it up.

Elie Saab Haute Couture Fall 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Zuhair Murad Haute Couture Fall 2022-2023 “Hamsa, ever watching eye”.

This is one of the most beautiful stories told at this Haute Couture fashion week in Paris. Zuhair Murad in every creation told a magic story about hamsa, tarot, horoscope, mystery of birth. Each and every pieces was embroidered or painted with one story.

Inspired by the ethereal art of Daria Hlazatova, Zuhair Murad engenders a collection in which cryptic and complex symbols prevail. Here immeasurable stars abound; elsewhere, myriad eyes, windows to the soul, draw benevolence and purity. A prominent place is reserved for the eye in a part of the collection, whether allowing moonlight to filter through silver embroidery, or centered on the fabrics, gathering its folds with absolute tenderness.

Zuhair Murad Haute Couture Fall 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

Jean Paul Gaultier Couture by Olivier Rousteing Fall Winter 2022-2023.

What exactly Olivier Rousteing did with archives of Jean Paul Gaultier? Or even better, what exactly he created out of iconic pieces of Jean Paul Gaultier? Well, nothing. Absolutely nothing! He simply recreated them – he is so good at recreation… although it was NOT an idea…

Master of copy, Olivier Rousteing was invited officially to see the archives and re-fresh the looks of Jean Paul Gaultier. He is a master of reproducing. “Jean Paul such big inspiration,” – said Olivier Rousteing, and getting into his archives such great possibilities for copy, I might add. We only can imagine how he feels, like a little boy in a candy factory. Rather than visiting libraries, taking pictures of the famous looks from old magazines, as he did for years, and reproducing them, Olivier Rousteing got the access to the archives.

Jean Paul Gaultier by Olivier Rousteing - Couture Fall 2022 Runway Magazine

Fendi Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 “Rome in a global context”. 

“This season, I wanted to step away from Rome, or at least I wanted to place Rome in a global context,” says Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear. “In this collection, we are looking at fragments of different cities, namely Kyoto, Paris and Rome. The fragmentary nature of things is echoed throughout the collection, like snatches of memory or the impression of things past, present and future.”

This season Jones and the craftspeople of the Fendi ateliers approach the couture collection as a palimpsest, where iterations, transparencies and fragments of the past go to make up the present and move subtly into the future.

Fendi Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022-2023 Runway Magazine

See more stories on RUNWAYMAGAZINES.COM

Podcast Color Expertise

Podcast Color Expertise. Episodes about the history and values of the colors. Podcast recorded with help of the new Text-to-Speech technologies and artificial voice. Listen to the Articles by Guillaumette Duplaix, Color Specialist, Executive Director, Global Editor-at Large at RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

RUNWAY MAGAZINE PODCAST Color Expertise

Haute Couture 2022 Fashion Week

Haute Couture 2022 Fashion Week. Review by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 fashion week Top News Headlines

• Thierry Mugler died night before Haute Couture fashion week.
• Schiaparelli presented “flat” couture, or “Schip” show of reproduced looks of Pierre Cardin, Thierry Mugler, and Jean Paul Gaultier, claiming that these looks are unique and invented by Daniel Roseberry, creative director. Images of “re-invented” famous looks of Pierre Cardin compared to the new looks of Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli flooded social media networks.
• Schiaparelli presented its new collection to PurnHub Producer Kanye West, assumingly that these pieces will soon be used in his production.
• Kanye West came to several fashion shows of menswear and Haute Couture with black pantyhose over head, as a bank robber from 1980s. That made huge laugh all over United States and pinned by Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart. Apparently Kanye West wanted to match his ex-wife Kim Kardashian look, who was suppose to come for Haute Couture fashion week (cancelled at last moment). She appeared in black outfit made for her by Demna Gvasalia, creative director of Balenciaga, for Met Gala 2021.

Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 review by RUNWAY MAGAZINE - Top News Headlines - Dior, Chanel, Valentino, Pharrell Williams

Scandal - Kanye West, Kim Kardashian at Paris Fashion Week 2022

• On the occasion of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture, “On Aura Tout Vu” (“We’ve seen it all”) presented “Haute Couture” sex-toys and showed them at their show “Superheroes”. The brand is entitled to use “Haute Couture” term for its production, as this brand is accepted by Fédération française de la couture (French fashion federation) as Haute couture invited guest and member. Haute Couture brand presented sex-toys as “Haute Couture” accessories to the media and during their show. Federation of Haute Couture didn’t express their opinion, didn’t put any ban on this production and use the “Haute Couture” name for sex-toys. For the last couple of years Federation of Haute Couture accepted as invited guests to present at Haute Couture fashion week the designers who have no connection to production in France, or don’t comply even with one requirement, or don’t have any production at all.
• Federation of Haute Couture accepted Ralph Rucci (American designer) as part of the official calendar of The Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, to present this season…. This designer never had production in France, he didn’t use any French atelier of métier d’art (ateliers of handmade crafts). In fact, this designer presented his old “collection” of drawings he did in 1990-2000s with marks 2022 and photos of his sketches with attached fabrics. The media received press-release and lookbook of drawings called “Ralph Rucci Spring Summer 2022 Haute Couture Collection”. NOTHING has been produced yet – not in France, not anywhere else. The brand invited media and buyers to contact for the appointment. The participation at Haute Couture fashion week has quite a high fee. How desperate Federation of Haute Couture could be to accept this?!!
• Pharrell Williams appeared at the shows wearing a reproduction of extraordinarily rare Mughal spectacles “Halo of Light” or “Gate of Paradise” (XVII century spectacles, named by the owners Mughal Royals, India). Pharrell Williams, who became a new creative director of Tiffany, claimed that this is his original “custom-designed” glasses. Sotheby’s chairman Edward Gibbs told CNN that  “As far as we know, there are no others like them.” Production of exact copy, without mentioning the original, and presentation to public as  Tiffany’s new glasses created another international scandal.

Pharrell Williams reproduction for Tiffany & Co of Mughal spectacles - XVII century spectacles, India

• Chanel announced a new CEO, and the first woman leader Leena Nair. The Haute Couture house announced that Leena Nair, the former Unilever human-resources chief, would assume the role of CEO in January 2022. She’s replacing Alain Wertheimer, Chanel’s co-owner. She was supposed to come to Paris and see the team, see the Chanel Haute Couture show, and meet the media. And to the very surprise of all, she cancelled her presence and didn’t appear at the show, she didn’t meet the designer or the media.
• Chanel after giant controversy with the first edition of Chanel advent calendar 2021 issued in December 2021 ($825 price for the several stickers and freebies available with every purchase at Chanel + 1 perfume, 1 soap and 2 lipsticks) announced just day before Haute Couture fashion week that the prices for the Chanel bags increased to $10 000. It is practically double. This decision for unjustified prices right after pandemic, when economically everybody has weakened, brought another wave of negative public opinion, and will probably give backfire and another boycott from buyers of luxury goods.

Chanel advent calendar 2021 - $825 for 22 stickers and freebies

• Chanel Couture Spring Summer 2022 show started with Charlotte Casiraghi riding horse. Although this collection didn’t have any piece or look which is related to horse-riding. The collection was intended for a new CEO and presented the best pieces of Karl Lagerfeld redesigned by Virginie Viard, creative director of Chanel, for an occasion. Chanel has been pinned for attempting to become an equestrian brand, and a clumsy hit on Hermes fashion house.  Virginie Viard also decided to give a “black eye” to some models without special announcement. Apparently it was done simply to pay some special homage to battered women.
• Unusually “quiet” and dull collection of Christian Dior in black, navy, gray, and brown also surprised the guests and big public. And also the same day Dior released a fabulous book about John Galliano from 1997-2007 with the designs of great designer. This is not just a different time of the Dior house. This is two different worlds – talent and banality. And it looked like two different forces in Dior house ripping it apart. Christian Dior belongs to LVMH luxury group.
• LVMH luxury group announced Louis Vuitton fashion house is not defining itself solely as a fashion house, but as a true “cultural creation company”. The fashion house sells “desire” and “culture” rather than watches or dresses. Louis Vuitton, its flagship, is described as a “cultural brand with a global audience” which also reaches a very large clientele in generation Z. This is a big and quite important step as from this moment on fashion becomes a cultural attribute, which can and should be protected as a cultural heritage. 
• Pierre Cardin,  a fashion house known in the 1960s for the futuristic fashion style, made its relaunch under the new direction of nephew of the designer Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin. Fabulous show took place at Le Bourget, and the runway was installed under the Space Rocket Ariane 5.

That was a rich fashion week by its news and difference announcements.

And on a personal note: “Fashion” dressed, or more likely ridiculously dressed people, who are hanging around the entrance to the fashion shows, more and more becoming public laughing stock. Add here when they interviewed – they are appallingly stupid, and have no idea about fashion industry, they are here to show themselves, like some sort of rotten “fashion leftover”.

Fashion can be an expression of personal feelings, a statement, and can be considered as an art… but not anymore. When it was started more than 40 years ago it made sense  – fashion became a concept, an attraction, much more than expression of a personal style. Vivienne Westwood is a very good example. Although today it is just ridiculous, and more and more fashion is associated with this ridiculously dressed crowd, less and less public have an interest in fashion. If fashion luxury brands are not intended to change it – the gap between luxury fashion brands and the public will be much larger than it is today, which will lead to massive financial losses.

Already today people don’t follow the fashion shows and new trends dictated by luxury brands, as it was before. Many people don’t even know the names of the luxury brands. As an example, Fendi Haute Couture show this season was watched live only by 4000 people all over the world, youtube and instagram put together. And the number of buyers may not even come to a couple of hundred. That is how little interest the public have today to the massive production of luxury goods and the luxury industry. Something to think about.

Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 Best of

This Paris Haute Couture fashion week was very rich by the events. The effect was like an earthquake. Shake it, shake it, baby, but not stir! It’s been a long time when everything became some sort of routine for the designers, media and buyers.

But apart from that what about the fashion and style? What actually designers showed for the Spring Summer 2022 season? And what actually can become a trendsetter?

Christian Dior showed the collection in black, navy, gray, and brown. Very simple looks, the “quiet fashion”, as Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of Dior, called it. The silhouettes are very simple and casual. See all looks of Dior Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Dior Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Schiaparelli, as being said, showed a collection of the looks so well chosen and reinvented from Pierre Cardin, Thierry Mugler, and Jean Paul Gaultier, with slight difference that these looks meant for Kanye West and his new adventure and production. Suzy Menkes, known independent fashion expert, called it “Schiap show”. See all looks of Schiaparelli Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

JP Gaultier for Stephanie Faracy - Hocus Pocus 1993 vs Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli HC Spring Summer 2022

Lebanese designer Georges Hobeika showed wonderful and very fresh looks. This Spring Summer collection included several very cute long and short cocktails dresses. What I personally like here is that collection is not attached to the one country codes. This dress I can easily see in New York, Paris, or Milan. And I can definitely wear one. See all looks of Georges Hobeika Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Georges Hobeika Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Chanel for this season finally made a beautiful come back to Karl Lagerfeld looks, this sparkle might light up Chanel once again. This collection has been very criticized by brand lovers for the quality, by experts for absence of the one line of the collection, by influencers and “watchdogs” of fashion for taking on Hermes market. “Black eye” given to some models (with make up of course) didn’t give any comments of public, as it was simply not understood. See all looks of Chanel Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Carla Bruni fabulously appeared for Didit Couture Spring Summer 2022 advertising campaign. Radiant and graceful, former First Lady of France, former model, lighten up the sky over Haute Couture fashion week this season. See all looks of Carla Bruni for Didit Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Carla Bruni for Didit Hediprasetyo Couture Spring Summer 2022

Valentino presented its Couture Spring Summer 2022 collection in the form of old fashion presentation/show under flag displayed on the Valentino’s building on Place Vendome, “Anatomy of Couture”. Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli brings the world close in a reimagined Salon de Couture: stripped of distraction, and singularly focused on his latest collection. An expression of physicality, a look into infinite shapes with the collection of Valentino “Anatomy of Couture”. I personally find this collection wonderful. Even the looks were not new, many of them are recreated by the designer from previous seasons, but garments were adapted for all shapes and ages. See all looks of Valentino Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Valentino Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Stephane Rolland Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 collection is another ode, another poesy. He has such recognizable style. Golden fluid shiluettes, and this time the accent made on the jewelry, giant, absolutely magnificent jewelry. See all looks of Stephane Rolland Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Stephane Rolland Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022. It was another fabulous show. Yes, Elie Saab is a Red Carpet designer. And the gowns he presents every season are created to praise femininity and grace. See all looks of Elie Saab Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Elie Saab Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022. Jean Paul Gaultier collection this season presented by designer Glenn Martens from Y/Project. Glenn Martens is Creative Director – Diesel, and his own brand Y/Project. “This is a celebration of Gaultier. I’ve stayed close to the woman Jean Paul created in the past—pure diva goddess beauty,” – said Glenn Martens in his notes. He reinvented the iconic marinière with barely visible constructed lines in his own way. “Jean Master” tried to reach the iconic look of Gaultier by waiving the lines up and down. I personally find it like a great success. See all looks of Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Franck Sorbier for Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 created another poesy,  “Ode of Life”. Probably this is the first time Franck Soriber created something very joyful. See all looks of Franck Sorbier Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Franck Sorbier Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Fendi Couture Spring Summer 2022. The story of this Fendi Haute Couture collection by Kim Jones is a story told by Fendi is a fantasy from past to the future. The historic codes of the city, its marble statues and aesthetic, are explored by creative director of Fendi Kim Jones. I personally find this collection “disoriented”, as if Kim Jones had so little interest to making it, he just used paints, like anybody else, on fluid fabrics, and patch couple of embroideries on the gowns. Collection was presented in France, so let’s give to Marianne, the female allegory of Liberty, a runway. See all looks of Fendi Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Fendi haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Ziad Nakad Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022. For this Haute Couture collection Ziad Nakad took a woman as a jewel. The choice of models as his muses for this season he came to France, Australia, Georgia, United States, Germany, Netherlands, and Korea. He wanted to dress the women from around the world. This collection is his statement that beauty is universal. See all looks of Ziad Nakad Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 HERE.

Ziad Nakad Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Pierre Cardin “Cosmocorps 3022” show was absolutely amazing finale for this so “disturbed” Haute Couture fashion week. This show was not just a tribute to the pioneer designer of “space” fashion but a magnificent relaunch of the brand, relaunch of the trend started in the 1960s. The Pierre Cardin show 2022 – Cosmocorps 3022 took place at Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, known to the world by its exposition of the plains, space rockets and the exposition of all important innovations and technologies related to space. Thousands of guests were invited to make the voyage from Paris to Le Le Bourget. We passed through the museum, accompanies by the robots, and following the lights, leading us to the Space Rocket Ariane 5, we came to the installed runway. See all looks of Pierre Cardin show 2022 – Cosmocorps 3022 HERE.

Pierre Cardin show 2022 - Cosmocorps 3022 Le Bourget by RUNWAY MAGAZINE

Well…. I love Happy endings. And that was it. Let’s also paraphrase “Pierre Cardin saved more than a day, he saved Haute Couture fashion week”. And we’ll continue Happily Ever After Haute Couture stories from Paris next season.

Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE