Initial reaction:

The search for a new creative director to replace Marco Zanini goes on, but in the meantime, the in-house team is going about their business. Using the best of the best of haute couture artisans in Paris, as well as collaborating with Stephen Jones on hats, they excell in creating daring and outré odes to Elsa Schiaparelli, playing with her known leitmotifs, such as the pierced heart, the padlock and the Ursa Major constellation. Schiaparelli’s whimsicality is brought to life with prints featuring surreal floating hands and dress pins – also clustered together to make jewellery.

Stand out looks:

A pierced heart, bias cut dress in teal blue, and a modern tan leather shirt dress, exploding into a dramatic bow at the back.

Sound and mirrors:

In the absence of a creative director, the attention shifted to Jean-Paul Goude and his contribution to the Schiaparelli project with his set design – a metallic mirrored box basking us all in fuchsia light. He also enlisted the help of the Parisian gospel choir Les Chérubins to surround us, up in the Hôtel Particulier courtyard windows, and sing Angelique Kidjo’s “London” – a version of Ravel’s “Bolero”, sung in the Mina language native to Benin Togo and parts of Ghana. This was Goude’s ‘Sound and Vision’ concept for the show, adding pomp and ceremony to these eclectic creations.