Paris Haute Couture Week don start and e go run till Thursday. E no be just fashion show o, haute couture na di pinnacle of creativity where designers fit dream di most fantastical creations, testing di skill of their atelier, for clients wey no dey worry about price tags.
Some houses get clients wey demand wardrobe wey go take dem through every aspect of their day. Others turn to couture for eveningwear wey speak volumes about di wearer. Here be di highlights from di show for di French capital.
For im Paris Haute Couture Week debut, Indian designer Manish Malhotra turn inward. Instead of looking to spectacle, e present Maa, a collection shaped by grief and dedicated to im mother, wey die just three months before di show. Di collection trace a deeply personal journey from childhood to adulthood, with each look serving as reflection of di bond wey inform both di man and di designer.
“Her passing has transformed memory into reflection, and reflection into creation,” Malhotra write for im show notes. E describe Maa as “a tribute to di architecture of a mother’s unconditional love, a connection wey transcend time, distance and words.” Dis resonate throughout a collection where emotion dey expressed not through overt symbolism, but through di exacting language of couture itself.
Figures of mother and child dey lovingly stitched into surfaces, as fabric cocooned in protective embraces. Filled with longing and scattered with countless hours of astonishingly delicate, impeccable handwork, Malhotra draw beauty from im grief, and turn am into something physical.
Zuhair Murad’s Love and Dominion collection arrive as flurry of butterflies, feathers, shimmer, velvet and translucent layers, drawing on di full vocabulary of haute couture. Presented as celebration of di extraordinary savoir-faire of di Lebanese designer’s atelier, e offer cinematic silhouettes and unmistakable sense of occasion.
With one eye firmly on di red carpet, as per Jennifer Lopez seated front row, Murad’s heroine na woman wey “refuses to surrender”, with bold spirit expressed through smoky hues, crystal embellishment, black lace, nocturnal florals, feathers and dramatic silhouettes wey seem to move between darkness and light. Di opening look set di tone. Emerging through clouds of white smoke, a nacre-toned gown appear beneath sweeping, feathered stole, its surface illuminated with crystal.
Behind di collection’s theatrical beauty lie hours of painstaking craftsmanship. A black duchesse satin coat, one of di show’s most intricate creations, require 2,500 hours of work, while a mermaid gown require 600 hours to complete. Di accompanying cape become labour of devotion in itself, with flowers individually created by hand, each petal and feather carefully capturing fragile beauty of nature transformed through couture.
Di title of Elie Saab’s autumn/winter 2026-2027 haute couture collection, Le Bal des Reves Indomptes (Di Ball of Untamed Dreams), offer invitation into world where fantasy dissolve into reality. Di collection draw on dreamlike universe of Surrealism, a revolutionary cultural movement wey emerge for France for di 1920s, echoing di works of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, and di decadent mystery of masked balls.
Di result na procession of ethereal goddess gowns, sculptural silhouettes and lavish embellishment, with each look imbued with air of enigmatic glamour and transformation. E be couture as escapism, a theatrical exploration of beauty, illusion and metamorphosis.
Ashi Studio’s autumn couture show, titled A Different Skin, feature Victorian-era mourning rituals and masquerades as focal point. As di Saudi label celebrate its 20th anniversary, e dey use dis show to explore transformation and metamorphosis through refined gothic lens. E be dramatic, with vintage corseting and boning techniques creating shapes wey stand proud on di body, almost like armour.
Designer Mohammed Ashi utilise feathers, raffia, moire taffeta, shredded chiffon and lace to conjure beautiful looks. Di palette of earthy browns, smoke greys, dusty shredded ivories and black add to di sense of exquisite dishevelment. A drop-waist corseted look come with puffed taffeta kick-flare skirt, while more corseting dey covered in brown snakeskin and polished to deep shine.
Cream resin become cracked body armour, edged with coiled feathers, as more feathers, now for chocolatey brown, smother a high-shouldered, fitted dress with wings. Like something from gothic dream, Ashi transport im audience to a decadently faded, otherworldly place.
Lebanese label Georges Hobeika deliver its collection, The Visitor, on di opening day. For what may yet emerge as trend, e rework di torso with tight corsetry wrapped in delicate lace or gleaming satin. Di fabric create exaggerated new width as di father-and-son designer duo play lightly with proportions through folds, pleats and netted skirts.
Necklines dey key throughout dis show. Layers of sheer, scalloped fabric, weighted with beading, also shift proportions into swaying tiers. One rigid body dey covered in mosaic of beading, while another dress, drop-waisted and backless, dey made entirely from fluid silver beads. Dis na about night-time decadence, told through column dresses, sheath cuts and few theatrical full skirts, wey start at di hips rather than di waist.
With palette of champagne, sea blue, eau-de-nil, pale moss, teal and plenty silvery beads, every outfit seem to shimmer, like fish scales for water. Catering to woman with busy evening calendar, di Lebanese label know how to deliver endless offerings wey dey striking yet delicate and refined.
For arguably im most India-inspired work to date, New Delhi-based designer Rahul Mishra deliver a couture collection wey draw on ancient goddesses, statues and divinities. Trompe l’oeil appear to be carved from stone and dey finished with embroidered arches and even painted faces as e recall di dancers and goddesses chiselled into temple rock centuries ago.
E mix dis with embroidery to suggest choli blouses and di drapery of saris, rendered as looping beading wey hang for ropes from hips and shoulders, or as stitched pleats tracing di contours of hips and legs. Di central pleat (called fan or Thavani) of Bharatanatyam dancers become recurring motif, as beaded design around di hips or fashioned into long, gossamer skirts, while di flowers of di Sala Tree, long associated with temple dancers, appear scattered across long, fitted column dresses.
Dis sleek silhouette dey punctuated by handful of dramatic departures: a sensual swath of black taffeta tumbling from di hips; a wide undulating skirt for black devore velvet wey evoke a giant parasol; and di kick-flare hem of a mermaid gown, delicately scattered with flowers.
Sharing heartfelt message on social media, Karan Johar reflect on professional relationship spanning more than three decades and praise Malhotra’s journey from im early days for Indian cinema to becoming globally recognised name for couture. “Some journeys dey measured for years. But yours dey measured for dreams, one wey dey stitched into every seam. I don get privilege of witnessing dis story from di front row.”
Karan credit di designer with transforming fashion for Indian cinema, writing say Malhotra give “characters a soul, people a new confidence, and Indian couture.” E also acknowledge Malhotra’s growing international influence, saying, “2000s na your era, you take di artistry of our karigars, our textiles, our culture and our cinema, and ensure dem belong on di world’s grandest stages, starting from Dubai Fashion Week to di Met Gala.”
Praising di designer’s latest couture presentation, Karan describe ‘MAA’ as defining moment for Malhotra’s career. “Dis collection nothing like you ever do before and e dey groundbreaking.” E conclude im tribute by congratulating im friend on reaching another milestone. “I no fit be more proud of di boy wey dare to dream beyond costumes, beyond cinema, beyond boundaries. Indian couture deserve its place among di finest. Congratulations @manishmalhotra05. Thank you for making all of us believe say when passion meet hard work, history inevitable!”
For im official show notes, di designer write, “Her passing don transform memory into reflection, and reflection into creation,” describing di collection as homage to di “architecture of a mother’s unconditional love.” Di presentation dey attended by several prominent guests, including Anna Wintour, Isha Ambani, Karan Johar and international actress Fan Bingbing.
