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Coinciding with Taylor Swift, Sarah Burton embarked on her Showgirl period. During her second presentation as the creative director of Givenchy, Burton heightened the intensity with collars adorned with sparkling rhinestones over collarbones, rich peach-colored maribou plumes, a sleek and short cocktail dress in bold crimson leather, and supermodel Naomi Campbell in a tuxedo jacket worn open over a scant lace-trimmed bra.

Forging a Unique Path

Burton has been at Givenchy under a year, but the longtime associate of Alexander McQueen has quickly defined a unique persona for the house and for herself. The Givenchy label, the legendary domain of the actress Audrey Hepburn and the timeless black dress, has a pristine heritage of sophistication that runs from Paris to Hollywood, but it is a modest entity as a business. Earlier creative directors had mostly leaned into streetwear and utility-coded metallic accents, but Burton is bringing back the sophistication.

"My intention was for it to be provocative and alluring and to expose flesh," Burton explained after the show. "In efforts to empower women, we often reach for masculine codes, but I wanted to look at female emotional intelligence, and the act of dressing and undressing."

Concealed appeal was also present, too, in a dress shirt in supple white leather. "Each woman is unique," Burton said. "Occasionally during casting, a model dons a look and it becomes clear that she is uncomfortable in high heels. So I change the look."

Return to Glamorous Events

Givenchy is rebuilding its presence in red carpet dressing. Burton has outfitted Timothée Chalamet in a butter yellow tuxedo at the Oscars, and Kaia Gerber in a classic ballerina-style gown of ebony lace at the Venice film festival.

Schiaparelli’s Surreal Resurgence

The fashion house Schiaparelli, the surrealist fashion label, has been experiencing a revival under the US-born creative director Daniel Roseberry. In the coming year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host the first major British Schiaparelli exhibition, looking at the work of the founder Elsa Schiaparelli and the brand she created.

"You don’t buy Schiaparelli, you collect pieces from Schiaparelli," Roseberry declared post-presentation.

Clients of Schiaparelli need no showcase to tell them that these clothes are art. Art-adjacency is beneficial for business – apparel is priced like fine art, with outerwear priced from approximately £5,000. And revenue, as well as visibility, is on the up. The location of the presentation was the Pompidou Center in the French capital, a further indication of how deeply this fashion house is connected to the arts.

Returning to Historic Partnerships

Roseberry revisited one of the iconic joint efforts of Schiaparelli with artist Salvador Dalí, the 1938 dress named "Tears" which will be in the V&A show. "This centered around returning to the origins of the brand," he noted.

The shredded details in the initial design were carefully rendered, but for the modern iteration Roseberry tore into the crepe silk itself. In both designs, the rips are eerily suggestive of stripped tissue.

Surreal Elements and Menacing Charm

There is an edge of menace at the Schiaparelli brand – Elsa described her mannequins, with their sharp shoulders and cinched waists, as her toy soldiers – as well as a cheerful embrace of wit. Nail-shaped buttons and golden noses hanging as ear accessories are the iconic symbolism of the house. The punchline of this show: faux fur made from paintbrushes.

Avant-garde themes emerge all over current fashion. Eggshell-inspired heels – treading carefully, geddit? – were a sellout at the brand Loewe. Dalí-inspired melting clocks have appeared on stage at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli dominates this domain, and Roseberry presides over it.

"Designs by Schiaparelli feature an extreme drama which dominates the space," he said. A scarlet ensemble was adorned with a triangular piece of skin-colored netting that was positioned approximately where briefs are usually located, in a head-swivelling illusion of bare skin. The tension between wearability and theatre is a key aspect of the event.

New York Designers in Paris

A carousel of creative director launches has introduced two New York favorites to the Parisian scene. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have departed from the fashion house Proenza Schouler they founded in 2002 to helm Loewe, the Spanish leather house that grew into a $1.5 billion powerhouse under the tenure of Jonathan Anderson before his transition to Dior.

The US designers appeared thrilled to be in Paris, France. Bold colors inspired by Ellsworth Kelly brought a joyful pop art sensibility to the cultured artistic knowledge for which Loewe is currently known. Bright yellow loafers dangled their tassels like the hem of Josephine Baker; a crimson peplum blazer had the confident glossy contours of a tomato sauce container. And a party gown imitating a fresh-from-the-bath towel, fluffy as a freshly laundered bath sheet, captured the sweet spot where clever design meets fashion fun.