For some time, Alexandre Vauthier has returned to the same drawing board: “How to propose couture, but differently.” And what results is unambiguously fierce—easily the fiercest of any designer who shows during this rarefied week. With this collection, he once again delivered the “how” thanks to sizzling looks so flawlessly fitted that a draped minidress or leather motorcycle pant showed no margin of error. He also, however, seemed interested in working through the “whys”—as in, why the perception of couture remains so narrow and why it needs to be different.
This is the first time he presented in the Grand Palais, and he took the grandness that has defined the craft and rescaled it to gutsy effect. Take Look 9; from behind, the gigot-sleeved, full-skirted mass of red faille could have been mistaken for a state dinner ball grown. From the front, it proved to be a crop top paired with denim shorts that were decked out with a Swarovski crystal waistband. The presence of tweed, handmade by Maison Lemarié, was an obvious bid to signal familiar made fresh. Likewise all those ’80s-style necklines and one-shoulder silhouettes that were removed from their heyday of peak pouf and implanted onto the littlest black dresses. Coquettish plumetis from the past looked newly empowered as the counterpoint to angular panels of velvet. And when the classical art of draping was performed on metallic red leather, the barely there result seemed destined for the (Victoria’s Secret) Angels of our time.
Vauthier said his goal was “extreme desirability,” adding, “It respects the workmanship by giving something new, not ceremonial.” Notably, he isn’t normalizing couture so much as making it exciting to wear. Where other houses are hedging their bets with elegance, he trades in high-octane energy. Visibility, too. It’s no stretch to imagine Bella Hadid or Kendall Jenner, who opened and closed the show, respectively, continuing on with her night in the Lesage-embroidered motocross hoodie and a pair of Vauthier’s jeans.
