EDITOR | Keira / TRANSLATION | Neda

Valentino 102套極致完美華服，重回了創始人Valentino Garavani的時代，在品牌的根，與高級訂製工坊的所在地羅馬公開向眾人上演了一場堪稱經典幻想的時裝秀 ; Balenciaga 末日預言感的未來科技風格衝擊著前所未有的高訂想像，卻遵循著1960年代私密沙龍的復古樣貌，接續品牌悠久的高訂歷史。

102 sets of Valentino’s extremely perfect costumes, returning to the era of the founder Valentino Garavani, at the root of the brand, and the location of the haute couture workshop in Rome, showcased a fashion show that can be called a classic fantasy; Balenciaga’s doomsday-like technology style has impacted the unprecedented haute couture imagination, but it follows the retro look of the private salon in the 1960s, continuing the fashion house’s haute couture history.

純粹美的本質

高級訂製從未考慮過實用性，高級訂製如同造夢，單純且夢幻的極致。Valentino 創意總監 Pierpaolo Piccioli 的每一場高訂大秀彷彿走入童話美學，將 Valentino 標誌性的玫瑰花在多套訂製服中華麗盛開，羽毛、透膚紗、網格襪、絨毛以及手工水晶元素揮灑在這場夢幻饗宴。

記得兩三年前一場大秀後 Pierpaolo Piccioli 採訪說到 “I hate it when people talk about ‘storytelling,’” 不應該是由故事支撐著一場大秀，感受最真實且純粹美的本質，丟掉那些背後的理念，就這樣單純的視覺欣賞。故事應該由觀賞者下筆，在每一個觀賞者背後帶入不同的主觀意識，每個人皆不同、皆精彩。Pierpaolo Piccioli 再次以色彩斑斕的世界給予觀賞者無限地想像空間，2022秋冬系列通過粉色作為核心語言，淡化曾經烙印人心的Valentino紅與白，而此次2022秋冬高訂系列展現完美調色盤的色彩概念，將對比度強烈的紅與綠達成和諧，為高飽和度的黃與紫緊密融合，彩度低且明度高的綠映襯著奪目搶眼的湖水藍，畫龍點睛的一筆濃郁紫色調貫穿整身，讓人忍不住懷疑擁有時尚詩人美名的 Pierpaolo Piccioli 是否取代 Pantone 配色系統？年度代表色 Valentino 說了算！

法國高級定製和時尚聯合會(FHCM)主席 Ralph Toledano 曾經說過：「高級訂製服是創作者的泉源，是取材研究的夢幻寶庫。高級訂製服也是設計師的言論自由之鄉，同時也是品牌的形象建立者。」與現實對立的夢幻美感加上超群的工匠技藝，一件件宛如精緻易碎的藝術品，是創作者最能夠造夢也最自由的發揮空間，高級訂製看似遙不可及，卻在最接地氣的露天公共場合開放給所有民眾觀看，並邀請了120名來自羅馬時裝學校的學生參與，將最能夠劃分為金字塔頂端的高級訂製下凡與眾人高歌頌揚。

Balenciaga 的背道而馳

相對於 Valentino，重回高訂週的 Balenciaga 有著完全相反的做法。去年7月 Balenciaga 創意總監Demna Gvasalia正式帶領品牌重回高訂舞台，呈現了Demna 在任的第二個高訂，也是 Balenciaga 第51季高級訂製系列。打破高訂傳統繁複工藝技術的造夢美學，Balenciaga 高訂秀開場即證明 Demna 的蓬勃野心，和他的前衛視角。

一貫 Demna Gvasalia末日預言的秀場風格，充滿賽博龐克美學造型的黑色玩家走入現實，以具有未來感的黑色面罩和覆蓋全身的黑色橡膠衝擊著視覺，單純的只留下黑色輪廓。彷彿一場高科技感的末日預言，激情且變異的審美快感在血液中流竄。其中一款聚氨酯塗層面罩特別引人注目，由Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd 旗下的梅賽德斯-AMG F1 應用科學部門研發製作，致力在實現航空航太和賽車動力技術的應用化，經歷數月的測試，最終呈現出完美流線型，兼具防霧性以及透氣性的舒適特質。而秀場音樂由模特兒手持一款與 Bang & Olufsen 合作的 Speaker Bag （音箱包款）播放而出，由一塊實心鋁研磨而成，在經過數天的珍珠噴砂、陽極氧化，以及手工拋光等工序，最終成型一款充滿電子科技感的功能性包款。

實用性與科技感無疑地走向了完全相反的高級訂製服風格，彷彿忽略了傳統、漠視了激昂的復古情懷，人工智慧取代了手工匠人精神？當眾人們懷疑此舉動是否缺乏高訂服裝細節，失去了高級訂製服的原先含義時，Balenciaga 卻也開啟了我們的另一條神經，一種誰說「只能有一種辦法」的前衛展現。時尚民主化運動已經經歷了好幾波浪潮，街頭風格早已融入了高端時尚，若說此作法是否更加符合現代趨勢，是否也和新一代消費者群體更加融合？

相反的，在 Demna 展現充滿極致科技的同時，秀場卻遵循著1960年代的復古樣貌，選址於巴黎喬治五世大街10號（10 Avenue Georges V）的品牌創始時裝屋舉行，重新展現了時裝屋沙龍的奶油色地毯與門檻白窗簾，接續品牌悠久的高訂歷史。到了整場秀的尾聲，Demna Gvasalia也照例以新娘禮服作結尾，由25,000cm的不同材質薄紗縫製而成，致敬典藏花紋樣式，其刺繡工藝耗時7,500小時，並使用了包括70,000顆水晶、80,000片銀葉，以及200,000個亮片，代表出現代風格的高訂序曲。一個時裝屋以延續高訂傳統工藝價值，開放給一般民眾欣賞，另一個則是打破高訂服裝理念，注入簡單的現代趨勢卻遵循著傳統秀場氛圍  ; 兩種詮釋，開啟兩種意念衝撞的思索，往前走。

Essence Of Purity

Haute couture has never considered practicality. It is like a dream with extreme purity. Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s haute couture show is like stepping into a fairy tale, with Valentino’s signature, blooming gorgeously, in feathers, sheer yarn, mesh socks, fluff and crystal elements, swayed in this dreamy feast.

Pierpaolo Piccioli said in an interview two or three years ago after a big show, “I hate it when people talk about ‘storytelling,’” a big show should not be supported by a story but to feel the essence of the most authentic and pure beauty, throw the concept behind and just to appreciate visually. The story should be written by the viewer, bringing different subjective consciousness behind each viewer, since everyone is different and wonderful. Pierpaolo Piccioli once again gives viewers unlimited imagination with a colorful world. The 2022 FW collection uses pink as the core language to dilute the red and white of Valentino that once branded people’s hearts, and the 2022 FW haute couture collection shows the perfect palette of colors, it achieves harmony between red and green with strong contrast, and closely integrate yellow and purple with high saturation. One can’t help but wonder if Pierpaolo Piccioli, who has a reputation as a fashion poet, will replace Pantone?

Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), once said: “Haute couture is the source of creators and also the free land of expression for designers, and at the same time, it is also the image builder of the brand.” The dreamy beauty that opposes reality and the superb craftsmanship skills, each piece of art is like a delicate but fragile art, which is the most free space for creators to dream and play. It seems out of reach, but it opens to all the public in the most down-to-earth public places, and 120 students from Accademia Costume & Moda are invited to participate.

Rebellious Balenciaga

Compared to Valentino, Balenciaga, who has returned to haute couture week, has the exact opposite approach. In July last year, Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia officially led the brand back to the haute couture runway, presenting Demna’s second haute couture collection, which is also Balenciaga’s 51st season of haute couture collection. Breaking the dream-making aesthetic of haute couture’s traditional and complicated craftsmanship, Balenciaga’s haute couture show opened with a testament to Demna’s vigorous ambitions and avant-garde vision.

Consistent with the style of Demna Gvasalia’s doomsday prophecy, the black players full of cyberpunk aesthetics entered real life, impacting the vision with a futuristic black mask and black rubber covering the whole body, leaving only a black silhouette. Like a high-tech doomsday prophecy, passionate and mutated aesthetic pleasure flows in the blood. One of the polyurethane-coated face masks is particularly eye-catching. It was developed and produced by the Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science Department of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. It is committed to the application of aerospace and racing power technology. After several months of testing, it finally showed a perfect streamlined shape which is anti-fog and breathable  The show music was played by the model holding a Speaker Bag in cooperation with Bang & Olufsen. Grinded from a solid piece of aluminum, after several days of pearl sandblasting, anodizing, and hand polishing, a functional bag full of electronic technology is finally formed.

The sense of practicality and technology has undoubtedly moved towards the completely opposite haute couture style, as if ignoring tradition and ignoring the passionate retro feelings. Has AI replaced the spirit of craftsmanship? When people wondered whether this move lacked the details of haute couture and lost the original meaning of it. The fashion democratization movement has gone through several waves, and street style has already been integrated into high-end fashion. If this approach is more aligned with modern trends, is it also more integrated with the new generation?

On the contrary, while Demna paying extreme tribute to technology, the show yet follows the retro look of the 1960s. Taken place in Georges V Avenue where the fashion house was founded, the cream-colored rug in the fashion house’s salon and the white curtains thoroughly make the brand’s long history of haute couture reappear. At the end of the whole show, Demna Gvasalia ended with a bridal gown as usual, which was sewn from 25,000cm of different tulles, paying tribute to the pattern of the archives. It took 7,500 hours and used 70,000 crystals, 80,000 silver leaves, and 200,000 sequins to represent modern style. A fashion house to continue the value of the traditional craftsmanship of haute couture and open to the public, while the other is to break the concept of haute couture and inject modern trends of simplicity but follow the atmosphere of the traditional show; two interpretations, opening up the collision of two ideas.