The Kingdom of Embroidery

Going on the Spring/Summer 2015 Haute Couture shows this week, the artisanal craft of embroidery has many years ahead of it. Following the long tradition of craftmanship, many fashion houses have sought to showcase this delicate decorative practice. While some labels have kept it more traditional, others have rebooted age-old techniques, mixing fabrics and shapes in often quite exquisite ways. At Dior, guipure lace was embroidered with sequins onto gowns. Alexis Mabille, who was celebrating the tenth anniversary of his house, showed off his passion for flowers in a collection containing furs adorned with garlands of embroidered magnolias and sequined kimonos veiled with printed chiffon embroidered with giant poppies. Chanel likewise chose a garden setting to stage Karl Lagerfeld’s collection, which included outfits decorated with embroidered floral motifs.

But the top prize goes to two foreign designers: the Turkish Ece Ege, whose artistically ambitious collection for the house of Dice Kayek included a stunning gown that was made up entirely of embroidery and incrusted with jewels; and the Lebanese designer Rami Kadi, who presented his collection at the luxurious setting of the hotel Plaza Athenée, alongside the official calendar. All the gowns were entirely embroidered, at times mixing thousands of miniscule French knots with ancient techniques dating back to the Ottoman empire, making for an innovative cultural dialogue mediated through haute couture.

Image 01 Dice Kayek Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015.
Image 02 Rami Kadi (right) created gowns entirely embroidered.