Street Style Levels Up to Couture

Couture week in Paris is by no means an outlier on the fashion calendar. It is, after all, where designers are expected to flex a bit of imaginative muscle, dare to be creative outside the margins and show what artistry looks like at the height of this medium.

Does that make it a bit of a deviation? Perhaps.

But this season, the shows seemed to really find their stride with a dialogue that was consistent between the runway and the streets. Street style was especially inspiring with an elegance that departed from the more subdued looks we saw last summer. The inspiration was particularly felt at Jean Paul Gaultier, where the guest designer Simone Rocha debuted her first couture collection.

As for Schiaparelli, the show — packed with its usual wall-to-wall celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Zendaya — opened with a model carrying a sparkly robot baby. Viktor & Rolf continued its surreal themes with pomp dresses, fragmented and deconstructed. And at Maison Margiela, a show that felt like a true headliner, a short film, live performance and models who skulked down the runway like animated dolls showcased John Galliano’s singular vision.