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Simultaneously with the pop star Taylor Swift, Sarah Burton embarked on her Showgirl period. For her second outing as Givenchy designer, Burton turned up the volume with collars dripping rhinestones over collarbones, luscious peach maribou feathers, a compact and striking evening dress in vibrant red leather, and Naomi Campbell in a tuxedo jacket left open over a scant lace-trimmed bra.

Establishing a Fresh Direction

Burton has been at Givenchy for a short period, but the former key collaborator at McQueen has quickly defined a unique persona for the fashion house and for herself. The Givenchy label, the spiritual home of Audrey Hepburn and the little black dress, has an immaculate bloodline of glamour that runs from Paris to Hollywood, but it is a smaller player as a business. Previous designers at the house had largely embraced streetwear and utility-coded metallic accents, but Burton is reintroducing the allure.

"The goal was to create something erotic and sensual and to reveal the body," Burton noted following the presentation. "To strengthen women, we often reach for masculine codes, but I wanted to examine women's emotional depth, and dressing and undressing."

Concealed appeal was also present, too, in a dress shirt in smooth white leather. "Every woman is different," Burton stated. "Occasionally during casting, a model tries on a garment and it becomes clear that she prefers not to wear heels. Therefore, I adjust the outfit."

Return to Glamorous Events

Givenchy is re-establishing itself in red carpet dressing. Burton has dressed Timothée Chalamet in a butter yellow tuxedo at the Oscar ceremony, and model Kaia Gerber in a classic ballerina-style gown of dark lace at the Venice Film Festival.

Schiaparelli’s Artistic Comeback

Schiaparelli, the avant-garde design house, has been making a comeback under designer Daniel Roseberry from America. Next year, the V&A Museum will host the first major British Schiaparelli exhibition, looking at the work of designer Elsa Schiaparelli and the fashion house she established.

"Acquiring Schiaparelli is not about buying, you collect pieces from Schiaparelli," Roseberry remarked after the show.

Those who don Schiaparelli require no exhibition to tell them that these garments are artistic. Proximity to art is positive for revenue – apparel is priced like fine art, with jackets starting at about £5,000. And income, as well as profile, is increasing. The venue for the show was the Pompidou Centre in the French capital, an additional signal of how intimately this brand is linked to art.

Returning to Historic Partnerships

Roseberry revisited one of Elsa’s most famous collaborations with surrealist master Dalí, the 1938 dress named "Tears" which will be in the V&A show. "This focused on going back to the roots of the brand," he explained.

The torn effects in the original were painted on, but for the contemporary take Roseberry shredded the crepe silk itself. In both designs, the rips are eerily suggestive of stripped tissue.

Eerie Details and Playful Threat

A touch of threat is present at the Schiaparelli house – Elsa described her mannequins, with their defined shoulders and tailored waists, as her toy soldiers – as well as a cheerful embrace of wit. Buttons in the form of fingernails and metallic nose ornaments as earrings are the iconic symbolism of the brand. The standout feature of this event: synthetic fur created using brushes.

Surrealist elements appear all over current fashion. Eggshell-inspired heels – navigating delicately, get it? – were extremely popular at the brand Loewe. Dali-esque wonky clocks have appeared on stage at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli leads in this area, and Roseberry commands it.

"Schiaparelli clothes have a heightened theatricality which captivates everyone present," he expressed. A scarlet ensemble was sliced with a geometric insert of nude-hued fabric that sat roughly where briefs are usually located, in a head-swivelling illusion of nudity. The tension between wearability and theatre is a key aspect of the event.

New York Designers in Paris

A whirlwind of new designer introductions has introduced two New York favorites to the Parisian scene. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have left behind the Proenza Schouler brand they founded in 2002 to lead Loewe, the Spain-based leather label that expanded into a £1.1 billion leading brand under the tenure of Jonathan Anderson before his transition to Dior.

The American creatives seemed ecstatic to be in Paris. Bold colors inspired by Ellsworth Kelly brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the sophisticated art intelligence for which Loewe now stands. Bright yellow loafers swayed their tassels like Josephine Baker’s skirt; a crimson peplum blazer had the bold reflective shapes of a tomato sauce container. And an evening dress disguised as a recently used bath sheet, fluffy as a freshly laundered bath sheet, achieved the ideal blend where clever design meets fashion fun.