No, haute couture is not dull!
The Paris Fall/Winter 2017 Couture Week has just ended and while some may argue that Couture can be a little dull (soporific even), we beg to differ.
And this season, there's so much more excitement than just extravagant couture creations walking down the runway in Paris and it certainly is never dull.
From American designers invading Paris to Chanel's Eiffel Tower in Grand Palais and Dior's 70th-anniversary exhibition, there's plenty to celebrate at Paris Fall 2017 Couture Week.
And here's six things you need to know about Paris Couture Week.
FOUR AMERICANS IN PARIS
This couture season, we saw two unlikely American duos joining the Parisians on the runway – Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez and Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy, creators of Rodarte.
Unlike the couturiers, the quartet presented their Spring/Summer 2018 ready-to-wear collections, ahead of their peers, but they still look absolutely couture-worthy!
AZZARO IS BACK
The Parisian house has undergone a radical change, under the impetus of Frenchman Maxime Simoëns.
This season, rich in gems and sensuality, Azzaro (pictured left) brings back the body-conscious looks of the 80s, with touches of drapery and pleating for sculptural, exacerbated femininity.
10 YEARS WITH IRIS VAN HERPEN
It's been 10 years since Iris Van Herpen started her avant-garde works and this season, the borders between arts, technology and fashion has been blurred.
From 3-D printed heels to a finale gown made with filament-thin wiring, Iris was inspired by the fluidity of water and air, which also explains the musicians of Between Music submerged in water tanks for their performance.
DIOR CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF COUTURE
From a 10th year mark, we move to a bigger celebration with the house of Dior, who is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
This revolution, and the whole story that comes next, is at the heart of the new Dior exhibition "Couturier Du Rêve", inaugurated with aplomb at the Musée des Arts décoratifs.
Earlier that day, Maria Grazia Chiuri also unveiled her second haute couture collection, a monochrome tribute to the modern globetrotters.
VALENTINO IN THE SEVENTH SKY
Pierpaolo Piccioli dressed up the archangels at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild for his Valentino couture collection.
Between sacred and profane, the collection alternates dresses, costumes and capes with clerical lines and dark twists. Gabriel, Zerachiel and Leliel inspire fifty shades of green, blue and pink and all worked on silk and cashmere.
CARTON FULL FOR LAGERFELD
At the helm at Chanel and Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld is the talk of Paris Couture Week. His new collection for Fendi "haute fourrure" earned him a standing ovation (pictured left). On the catwalk: it was a wonderful garden of irises, daisies and hand-painted poppies on capes, corolla dresses and trapezoid coats.
And just 24 hours before that, at the Grand Palais, Anne Hidalgo honoured Karl with the "Grand Vermeil Medal" of the City of Paris, witness by Claudia Schiffer, Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne and all of his friends at the Chanel Couture Show.
And that was also another spectacle to be in awe with, where Chanel recreated a life-size Eiffel Tower in the heart of Grand Palais, aptly dubbed The Chanel Tower.
