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Simultaneously with the pop star Taylor Swift, designer Sarah Burton stepped into her Showgirl phase. For her second outing as the creative director of Givenchy, Burton heightened the intensity with collars adorned with sparkling rhinestones across the collarbone area, opulent peach-toned feather accents, a compact and striking evening dress in vibrant red leather, and supermodel Naomi Campbell in a tuxedo jacket draped 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 swiftly crafted a new identity for the fashion house and for herself. The Givenchy fashion house, the iconic residence of Audrey Hepburn and the little black dress, has a flawless lineage of sophistication that extends from the French capital to Tinseltown, but it is a relative minnow as a business. Her recent predecessors had mostly leaned into urban fashion and practical metallic details, but Burton is reintroducing the glamour.

"My intention was for it to be seductive and intimate and to expose flesh," Burton said backstage. "In efforts to empower women, we often adopt male-inspired styles, but I wanted to examine female emotional intelligence, and the process of adorning and revealing."

Subtle seduction was evident, too, in a dress shirt in butter soft white leather. "Each woman is unique," Burton said. "Sometimes when I’m casting, a model puts on an outfit and it becomes clear that she is uncomfortable in high heels. Thus, I modify the ensemble."

Red Carpet Revival

Givenchy is reaffirming its position in celebrity event attire. Burton has dressed actor Timothée Chalamet in a butter yellow tuxedo at the Academy Awards, and Kaia Gerber in a retro-inspired ballet dress of black lace at the Venice Film Festival.

Schiaparelli’s Surreal Resurgence

Schiaparelli, fashion’s house of surrealism, has been experiencing a revival under designer Daniel Roseberry from America. In the coming year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host the inaugural UK Schiaparelli showcase, examining the work of the founder Elsa Schiaparelli and the brand she created.

"Schiaparelli is not merely purchased, you collect Schiaparelli," Roseberry remarked post-presentation.

Women who wear Schiaparelli don’t need an exhibition to tell them that these designs are masterpieces. Connection with the art world is positive for revenue – clothes come with gallery prices, with outerwear priced from approximately £5,000. And income, as well as profile, is on the up. The venue for the show was the Pompidou Centre in Paris, another reminder of how close this house sits with art.

Revisiting Iconic Collaborations

Roseberry recalled one of the most renowned partnerships of Elsa with artist Salvador Dalí, the 1938 “Tears” dress which is set to feature in the V&A exhibition. "This was about returning to the origins of the brand," he explained.

The shredded details in the initial design were artistically applied, but for the contemporary take Roseberry cut into the silk crepe itself. In each version, the tears are chillingly evocative of stripped tissue.

Eerie Details and Playful Threat

There is an edge of menace at the Schiaparelli brand – The founder called her mannequins, with their defined shoulders and cinched waists, as her plaything troops – as well as a gleeful delight in a joke. Fingernail-inspired fasteners and gold noses dangling as earrings are the visual grammar of the brand. The punchline of this show: synthetic fur created using brushes.

Surrealist elements appear across modern style. Eggshell-inspired heels – walking on eggshells, geddit? – were extremely popular at the fashion house Loewe. Surrealist distorted timepieces have graced the runway at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli owns this territory, and Roseberry presides over it.

"Schiaparelli clothes have an extreme drama which captivates everyone present," he said. A crimson dress was cut with a geometric insert of skin-colored netting that rested around the area a pair of knickers should, in a head-swivelling illusion of bare skin. The tension between wearability and theatre is all part of the show.

American Creatives in the French Capital

A merry-go-round of designer debuts has welcomed two NYC stars to the French fashion world. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have departed from their Proenza Schouler label they founded in 2002 to take over Loewe, the Spain-based leather label that expanded into a £1.1 billion leading brand under the direction of Jonathan Anderson before his departure to Dior.

The Americans looked delighted to be in Paris. Ellsworth Kelly brights brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the in-the-know art smarts for which Loewe is currently known. Banana yellow loafers swayed their tassels like the fringe of Baker's costume; a scarlet fitted jacket had the confident glossy contours of a condiment vessel. And a cocktail dress masquerading as a just-out-of-the-shower towel wrap, plush as a newly washed cloth, achieved the ideal blend where smart creation blends with sartorial amusement.