Iris Van Herpen dresses women as a jellyfish, Schiaparelli launches them into the future

Paris – Designer Iris Van Herpen proposed a descent into the deep sea on the first day of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture. The spectacular show included laser lights that sculpted her creations as they moved down the runway.

Known for her fusion of high technology and fashion, the Dutch designer presented skin-tight dresses. These dresses imitated scales or seaweed; the undulating tails and fins of tropical fish; and the tails of seahorses.

The colour palette included greenish tones, marine blues, but also black and silver, reminiscent of the abyssal depths. Jellyfish were a central theme of the show, christened "Sympoiesis". Van Herpen explained that she reproduced the animal using, "a vaporous Japanese fabric that floats like suspended currents within moon-like curved structures, cut with translucent carbon fibre laser".

Coral was imitated using a protein known as Brewed. This is, "a novel fermented fibre that has been laser cut and fused with translucent organza using heat", she added.

Schiaparelli, meanwhile, proposed a "Return to the Future". This new wardrobe comprises an impressive black and white ruffled dress; long sculptural evening gowns; elegant, almost overly sober suits; a richly decorated bullfighter's outfit; and a coat cut like a sleeveless rectangle, with a high feathered collar and embroidered with a large silver flower. All in shades of white, black and silver, with a few touches of bright red.

Staged at the Petit Palais, this show brought together a host of stars, including American rapper Cardi B. She caused a sensation in an ultra-fitted black gown with a huge neckline adorned with long pearl fringes and a live crow perched on her gloved hands. British singer Dua Lipa and French actresses Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Joséphine Japy were also in attendance.

Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture, which runs until Thursday, is marked by personnel changes and absences. Demna, Balenciaga's "enfant terrible" designer, has departed for Gucci. Dior is still preparing for the arrival of its new artistic director, Jonathan Anderson (who showed brilliantly at Men's Fashion Week). Jean-Paul Gaultier (present at the Iris Van Herpen show) will not be showing this time.

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