For your holiday soirees, take a cue from Fall 2018 Couture Collections’ most glamorous looks
As you do the rounds of the party circuit this holiday season, your fashion factor should always be on point. Take a cue from the best evening looks of Fall 2018 Couture Collections, shown at the European and Middle Eastern runways. Luxe, festive, and lavish, these glamorous looks will surely make you the belle of the ball. Let the glam tidings begin!
“Clothes like good architecture have to respond to a rhythm of life. You can’t be elegant without being graceful and you can’t be graceful if you’re not at ease.”
– Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes
MICHAEL LEYVA
Gown from Michael Leyva’s Enchanted Dreams collection
An extravagant event set at a country manor requires an equally elaborate ball gown. Saunter like a princess and leave other guests in awe in an opulent piece by this young Filipino designer from his “Enchanted Dreams” collection: a long-sleeved silk organza gown with fully embroidered rose details of metal threading and crystal embellishments. It’s the ultimate feel-good glamour in a garden setting.
ARMANI PRIVÉ
Armani Privé Fall 2018 Couture
Giorgio Armani shows his exclusive Privé collection during Paris Haute Couture Week. For Fall 2018, his couture presentation offered an indication of what red carpets will look like come film premieres and festival after-parties.
“With this fashion show, Armani aimed to convey the true meaning of haute couture to the young generation, taking the catwalk back to what it once was: the absolute essence of luxury and perfection,” the storied Italian brand explains in its show notes of its “sculptural, almost regal style” for the younger generation.
Haute Privé showed the refined elegance Armani is famously known for: sleek clothes in muted colours. But there’s one that’s refreshingly over the top for an otherwise austere designer: a black velvet column gown with a plunging sweetheart neckline paired with a baby pink cape of ostrich feathers. Just perfect to glide onstage to give an award — or receive one.
ELIE SAAB
Elie Saab Fall 2018 Couture
The Lebanese couturier has ateliers in Beirut, London, and Paris, but he travelled to Barcelona for inspiration for his fall couture collection. Antoni Gaudi’s architectural marvels influenced most of Saab’s frocks along with the Mediterranean Art Nouveau vibe.
The stunning embroidery, beading, and embellishments are what Saab is celebrated for in the Middle East and the world over. A striking emerald number, however, sculpturally constructed with nary any decorative details, can be a clear standout in a holiday soiree.
RALPH & RUSSO
Ralph & Russo Fall 2018 Couture
“A celebration of the universe and art de vivre of icon and femme du monde, Jacqueline de Ribes, the Autumn/Winter 2018 couture collection encapsulates the zeitgeist of the Eighties and the golden age of couture through the frame of the renowned Comtesse,” goes the production notes of Ralph & Russo.
The British duo famously made the engagement dress of Meghan Markle, and their fall couture outing is their first collection since the royal encounter. They unleashed gorgeous dresses in colour-blocked jewel tones, the happy, joyful hues of the season.
Be a contender for Best Dressed (with a flash of leg) with the “tangerine and raspberry silk double satin off-the-shoulder gown, with voluminous sleeves and draped skirt, embellished with raspberry crystal pendants, velvet ribbon and silk thread work.”
And get the approval of the iconic comtesse: “Clothes like good architecture have to respond to a rhythm of life. You can’t be elegant without being graceful and you can’t be graceful if you’re not at ease.”
ZUHAIR MURAD
Zuhair Murad Fall 2018 Couture
The Paris-based Lebanese designer also had Russian aristocracy in mind when he conceptualised his fall/winter 2018-2019 couture collection, both real (the ostentatious Elisabeth of Russia) and fictional (Tolstoy’s tragic Anna Karenina).
The resplendent clothing of the czars and czarinas served as Murad’s inspiration for his decadent collection, with beading patterns of tiaras, coats of arms and Faberge eggs strewn all over gowns and military-inspired garbs. In a high-profile society affair, wear something scandalous like the sheer cape dress with arabesque patterns in scintillating red. It’s for an imperial woman, but more intriguing than intimidating.
“The bridging of the masculine and feminine of ornamentation and functionality, two usually opposed worlds, reflects today’s modern woman,” says Murad.
