Best of Haute Couture Fall 2010

Valentino, above.

Haute Couture has been a tireless subject of debate while many like to continually point out it's weak sales across the board and diminishing relevance in society. While that may be the case, wasn't it always? Isn't couture about that unattainable and highly elusive luxury item we all like to dream of having? Hasn't globalism made "luxury" too readily attainable?

While the nine designers showing for Fall 2010 clearly understand the craft beautifully, there were four contributions whose focus & edit were so precise, we wanted to take a moment and applaud them. These designers respectively pay homage to the past with their own distinctive signatures while moving things forward with the kind of youthful gusto couture could thrive on. John Galliano at Christian Dior, Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier & Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli at Valentino seem determined to energize Haute Couture with troves of tasty options. While at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld oddly placed heavy, orthodox, old-world & stuffy misconceptions of couture's past on the runway. Reverse psychology? Or is it simply sticking to your guns & your clientele?

Here's a look at Fall 2010's Haute Couture fab four, destined to inspire Vnyc's future buys:

Jean Paul Gaultier

Gaultier delivered a fanciful Parisian collection that evoked the wit, luxury, proportion and sex-appeal of two of France's most provocative 90's era legends, Thierry Mugler & Claude Montana.

Christian Dior


At Dior, Galliano hit his stride with decadent takes on his admiration for some of couture's best, from Poiret to Worth, all in irresistible colorways that were as bodacious as his silhouettes.

Valentino


While at Valentino, Chiuri & Piccioli took the house's heritage of princess dressing into today's need for clean while addressing couture's precarious state by placing a sculpted cage over one of their precious exits.



Givenchy


Five years later Tisci has almost nothing left to prove at Givenchy. Here, his love of religious Catholic laces combined with a romantic penchant for gothic symbolism made for a breathtaking argument on the exclusivity of beauty.