Couture is in full bloom at Paris Haute Couture Week and here's everything we've loved (so far)

After a few shaky seasons marked by designer exits, uncertain transitions, and creative flux, couture feels thrillingly like it's back on its feet. With major creative directors finally having settled into their new roles, this season’s collections arrive with an electric sense of purpose—as if every house is out to remind the world exactly what it stands for. There’s urgency, imagination, and a whole lot of proving ground energy in the air. Here's what we're loving (so far). 

Day One

Schiaparelli turns the surreal dial to high

 

For his Fall 2025 couture showcase, Daniel Roseberry took Schiaparelli to its most futuristic edge yet. With whispers of industry-wide creative shake-ups on the horizon, Roseberry used this collection as both a provocation and a prelude to reinvention. The day opened with a dramatic statement—Cardi B arriving for the show, dressed in a black fringe-trimmed bustier gown, holding a live raven at the gates of the Petit Palais. She set the tone for what came next—the garments that were equally theatrical: rhinestone-encrusted thongs peeking from sculpted satin gowns, breastplates with protruding metallic nipples, and a heartbeat-shaped necklace that pulsed with mechanical precision. In the front row, Dua Lipa shimmered in a keyhole white gown while Hunter Schafer stunned in a mint-and-gold strapless column. This was couture that thrilled, shocked, and reminded us that Schiaparelli will never be boring.

Iris van Herpen creates living, breathing couture

 

Dutch designer Iris van Herpen took the concept of fashion as life force quite literally this season. Her show opened with a jaw-dropping “living look” infused with 125 million bioluminescent algae—living, breating creatures—which required controlled light and temperature conditions to survive. The rest of the collection felt like a delicate collision between science fiction and deep-sea wonder: jellyfish-like gowns made from “air” fabrics, sculptural forms that mimicked marine biology, and a kinetic dress in collaboration with artist Casey Curran that shimmered and shifted like a breathing organism. Each of her 18 looks formed a miniature ecosystem, elevated by a multisensory experience that included a bespoke scent by Francis Kurkdjian. Through it all, Van Herpen’s vision offered a poetic critique of humanity’s relationship with nature, making fashion literally come alive on stage.

Rahul Mishra transforms love into thread

 

In a collection titled Becoming Love, ace Indian couturier Rahul Mishra turned emotion into embroidery for his Fall/Winter 2025–26 offering. Inspired by the seven Sufi stages of love—attraction, infatuation, surrender, reverence, devotion, obsession, and death—Mishra’s creations fused craftsmanship with spirituality. Models glided down the runway in ethereal sheers, hand-cut florals, pearl-dusted organza corsetry, and experimental textures that felt like a romantic fever dream. Every piece carried whispers of devotion and grief, illustrated through painstakingly intricate handwork. The collection wasn’t short on drama either, with actor and supermodel Lisa Haydon closing the show in a white sequin gown that shimmered like a whisper. For Mishra, couture is a way to meditate on emotion, where every stitch is part of a larger romance.

 

Lead Image: Getty Images

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