Patrick Pham AW18 at Paris Fashion Haute Couture Week

All the colours of the Vietnam and of his childhood have inspired the French Patrick Pham for the 4 Seasons collection…

 Light pink as a lotus flower, blue of the dawn sky in summer, or red chilli, green of the rice-fields…

Handmade embroideries, pearls on silk, on cashmere, lace, velvet or tulle.

And the black of course, spellbinding in its evening gowns, festive nights, and caressing the flesh of chic but cheeky women.

 The collection shows a wardrobe made of sophisticated suits as pearls dresses, which could travel on a cruise ship through the China Sea.

The Patrick Pham woman likes to wear creations which are lightly sculpted and shaped on her body.

The dresses favour movement, freedom, and luxury and are made of gossamer embroideries. A society woman, a woman in the society.

RANI ZAKHEM AW18 at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week

'A Warrior Goddess in her Crystal Armour' Rani Zakhem Couture AWr 2018-2019 collection is a vibrant and sparkling tribute to the combating and combative woman, Amazone of all jungles and terribly ”Glamazonian”

All elements of nature are invoked to protect this dangerous chameleon emerging from the foliage or surrounded by all the animals of Creation.

 The camouflage spirit dominates the graphic scene of this Couture collection. Shades of khaki on a silk crepe sablé,  “V” neck spencer with structured shoulders, and sharp cigarette pants.

Rani Zakhem redesigns the camouflage print as an embossed sumptuous ornament embroidered in new tonalities: glittering emerald, bronze and gold on a pencil skirt; red, black and gold crystals in clusters on an incendiary sheath

 or  in a single element, gold, iridescent crystal and silver, wrapping the waist of a white silk crepe cocktail dress vertiginously slit on the bias.

 Another recurring motif is the oversized military insignia, which adorn the sleeves of a jacket or coat as giant gold glittering embroidered chevrons.

 Main colour palette is pure white, a value rather than a color, considered fragile but luminous, bold, a symbol of renewal and resilience.

In Rani Zakhem’s imaginary jungle "glamazone" is also the delicate guardian of a paradise that she will not let falter. Like a nymph, it is marked with the seal of the forests translated, here in diaphanous sheaths where intertwined cascades of lianas drawn by the designer and hand embroidered with sequins and white, bronze, silver and gold braided threads.

 On the skirt of a tulle dress with crinoline the  imaginary jungle unfolds, a fairy where fauna and flora blend in a palette of pale pink, gold and copper,

 In this celebration of nature there is also a spectacular crinoline creation, fluttering black tulle, with scattering of crystals, evoking a spider in its precious cobweb.

Dragonflies flutter over pastel hues of aquatic vegetation on an exquisite revealing ballgown . as well as an adorable sheath in tulle cascades, nuanced from orange to pink, like a poisonous flower or panoply of native warriors. Subtle references from Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan and Azzedine Alaïa punctuate the couture vocabulary of Rani Zakhem, between a Saharienne detail, a draped moulage, the powerful minimalism of a white dres

Rani Zakhem Couture SS18 at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week

Tilted 'ODE TO A VOLCANIC WOMAN' Rani Zakhem celebrates life and joy in incandescent metaphors.

Fire is the essential element of the collection, dedicated to a volcanic woman. sometimes extinguished leaving precious streaks of diamonds on silky nights;

sometimes fluid, sizzling cascades of molten metal on a short dress with dripping panel

 and sometimes gently iridescent with warm colors,

As devouring as ethereal, the fire element comes in pyrotechnic explosions of gold, drawn by embroideries of crystals representing lava.

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Fringing cascading over shoulders like a volcano erupting

The image of the volcano is spun to the neck, columned and entirely gilded,

Reminiscent of a party in Vienna where the designer returned bedazzled, Klimt's Kiss, itself cast in gold in a powder dust of stars, infuses into the collection a modernist visual vocabulary, translated into sequins of geometric forms.

 Geometry that also brings us into the disco spirit of the 1970s with many references to Halston, especially in a loose single shouldered fluid dress with a golden Mao collar, in a fanned out degradé rainbow, gold to red through yellow and bright orange.

Gold, subtle and powdery, sculpts feuille d'or chiffon dresses, knotted in a wrap around bustier dropping into a deep backline, a tribute to Mireille Darc famously wearing Guy Laroche's backless dress. .

The theme of fire, is only a pretext chosen by Rani Zakhem to salute the masters who nourished his vocation:
A scarfed collared, split yellow chiffon, plissé soleil dress with mouton sleeves, is a sunny smile addressed to Jean-Louis Scherrer.

A short black silk satin, real Moujik tunic adorned at the bottom with pleated yellow faille embellished with a large bow of the same fabric is a nod to Yves Saint Laurent.

 Densely embroidered golden and silver tops top with long black split skirts are a reverence to Balmain.

Fluid drapes of silk jersey in pale gold and silver grey with a large bow of black silk satin on the shoulder are a tribute to the draper extraordinaire designer Madame Grès  .

Silk satin kaftans, embroidered on the edges with gold sequins and flame patterns at the bottom, recalls Rani Zakhem's native orient and plays the bond between his multiple cultures.

 Shaped in flowing lava and blazing fires, is the wedding dress, long and tight, in delicate whitish lace.