Haute Couture Is Cool Again (and These Five Moments Prove It)

This season, haute couture has regained its ability to surprise. And at a time when the internet is saturated with stimuli designed to last just a few seconds, it’s refreshing to see fashion houses once again creating those moments that, on their own, justify an entire fashion week.

Here are five of them:

Balenciaga’s Le City Transformed into a Haute Couture Piece

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The fact that Demna was leaving Balenciaga was reason enough to take a closer look. But among all the looks, there was one item that perfectly encapsulated his legacy: the City Bag.

The bag that defined an entire generation has been transformed into a museum piece with Pierpaolo’s debut in Haute Couture. The leather disappears, giving way to a flexible metal frame covered by a mesh featuring nearly 40,000 rose gold-toned Swarovski crystals. An accessory turned into a piece of jewelry that proves Haute Couture can also be applied to one of the most mainstream objects of contemporary luxury.

Schiaparelli as the best creative studio

Not even Bad Bunny’s surprise appearance could overshadow the show’s true star: Daniel Roseberry’s collection.

The creative director once again took Schiaparelli a step further; this time, by experimenting with latex, silicone, and oven-baked surfaces to create garments that looked sculpted rather than sewn. Among all the references, a delicate nod to Antoni Gaudí stood out, bringing the Catalan architect’s organic forms, impossible volumes, and sculptural language to the body. The result confirmed, once again, that Schiaparelli remains the place where haute couture allows us to dream a little.

Viktor & Rolf Turn the Runway into a Mirror

Some collections are remembered for a dress, and others for an idea. Viktor & Rolf always fall into the second category.

This time, they transformed the runway into a small performance in which two women—one young and the other older—repeated, as if mirroring one another, the act of getting dressed and undressed inside a bedroom. Each look had its inverse counterpart, creating a choreography centered on duality, time, and identity.

Robert Wun shows that even balloons can be turned into haute couture

If anyone knows how to turn optical illusions into fashion, it’s Robert Wun.

Among the most talked-about images of the week was a dress that looked as if it were made of balloons suspended above the body. Obviously, they weren’t. Behind it lay a masterclass in patternmaking and textile sculpture that blurred the line between an everyday object and a piece of couture. Because, in the end, that’s what haute couture is all about: making the impossible seem real for a few seconds, isn’t it?

Manish Malhotra and His Debut in Paris

One of the most important moments of the week was, in fact, one of the most symbolic.

After more than three decades of shaping Bollywood’s aesthetic vision, Manish Malhotra made his debut on the official Haute Couture calendar with “Maa,” a collection dedicated to his mother that also served to send a clear message: Indian haute couture is finally receiving the international recognition it has deserved for decades. This is proof that the luxury industry also needs to broaden its cultural horizons.