The fashion pack is currently departing Paris, having just taken in all the major shows of the Fall 2017 Haute Couture season. Front row attendees witnessed Karl Lagerfeld erect the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the Grand Palais for Chanel, Maria Grazia Chiuri pay homage to Monsieur Christian Dior as the legendary fashion house turns 70, and watched Bella Hadid sashay down the runway at Alexandre Vauthier’s electrifying show spectacular. Although the biased opinions of the industry’s elite shouldn’t concern you, our brutally honest forum members are more than willing to share their unfiltered opinions toward the collections. Here are all the hits and misses of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Fall 2017 season, according to the tFS forums.
Haute Couture Hits & Misses (Fall 2017)
HIT: Atelier Versace
"OMG! (Oh My Gianni!) This is incredible! I wish they could manage making such a strong collection AND showing it on the runway; but if I have to choose, I'll take stunning clothes over a show." [gazebo ]
"FINALLY. I absolutely LOVE this collection. After so many horrid RTW and Haute Couture presentations (save for the last Haute Couture presentation), this is so refreshing to see something so good. THIS is the Versace I love. I am wondering if [Riccardo] Tisci is already involved somehow." [Salvatore ]
"Gorgeous. Modern and feminine without looking tacky. Good job!" [liaa ]
See all the looks from the Atelier Versace collection .
Image: Courtesy of Vogue.com
MISS: Christian Dior
"Looks sad and somber! It doesn't look like the 70th Anniversary celebration collection for Dior...it looks like the attendants for the funeral of Monsieur Dior." [jeanclaude ]
"It was really sad and it felt outdated. It was bland and unimaginative. Maria Grazia wants to appeal to the young, but at the same time this couture felt like it had been taken from their archives and redone with different fabrics without any thinking process. Even that footwear was literal to the point that it felt ridiculous." [perhydrol ]
"Honestly I've always tried to defend her, but this collection is sad, depressing, dated...you name it." [Inlimbo ]
See all the looks from the Christian Dior collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Schiaparelli
"This is the first time I really like this version of Schiaparelli. I've seen a jacket made of net with some plastic details, that was something Elsa would do. At the same time they're not literal and not throwing the recreated archive pieces out on the runway. As a whole it was really feminine, light, graphic and clean. That last look was divine." [perhydrol ]
"My fave show from today. Absolutely love all of it, the details are insane - the jewellery just wow. The boots at the start and the sandals with the heart. From the back there are amazing, unexpected details too." [gossiping ]
"Sooo gorgeous! I love the silhouettes, use of colour and embellishments, and the shoes and jewelry are divine! I love the dinner jackets and those capes (*sigh*), it's also one of the first times I've actually liked completely sheer gowns. I want so much of this!" [AnaD ]
See all the looks from the Schiaparelli collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Guo Pei
"I can already picture some over the top multimillion dollar wedding in Saudi Arabia or UAE with all the female attendees wearing these outfits. This is a pretty tacky and cheap collection. I know she can do SOOOOOOO MUCH better!" [billiejbob ]
"Beyond heinous. The taste level is nonexistent. It's almost comical, but you know she's not in on it." [dior_couture1245]
"This is so tacky! The cheapest fabrics I've seen in a long time on a Couture show. Even Christian Siriano is better than this. Who on earth would ever want to wear those things? Maybe she had a discount - the whole show is like a low-cost production. TERRIBLE!" [Lola701 ]
See all the looks from the Guo Pei collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Giambattista Valli
"He has a fantastic way with colors and silhouettes. Absolutely beautiful collection." [pearlsandtwirls ]
"He has such a fantastic way with colour, I absolutely love that 4th yellow dress. Gorgeous!" [gossiping ]
"It's definitely beautiful. But we've seen him do this type of designing since his debut into haute couture. I think the best pieces in the collection were the pale lavender gown and the deep red gown." [Chris_Couture05 ]
See all the looks from the Giambattista Valli collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Alberta Ferretti Limited Edition
"This could be one of their normal collections! Dresses look very pedestrian." [Benn98 ]
"Expensive fabrics, all artisanally hand-sewn, embroideries...all this money and hard work to end up looking like a random department store standard night collection." [jeanclaude ]
"I'm drawn to the images because of Natasha, not the clothes. These are not couture price point quality." [333101 ]
See all the looks from the Alberta Ferretti Limited Edition collection .
Image: Courtesy of Vogue.com
HIT: Alexandre Vauthier
"Wow. Much better than last season, this is absolutely stunning. I love love love the minis, the belts on the tailoring, the ruffles. It's like a couture Isabel Marant." [gossiping ]
"Please take notes, Anthony Vaccarello." [GreyVetiver ]
"He should be fronting YSL, he captured all the sex, glamour and irreverence they've been trying to push and turned it into something beautiful. This is stunning." [AnaD ]
See all the looks from the Alexandre Vauthier collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Chanel
"I'm a massive fan of Chanel and Karl but this is by far his worst couture collection for a few years now. I don't doubt that the quality of the clothing is amazing but the design and creativity of this is very boring and lackluster. I feel like he's done this kind of design way too many times." [billiejbob ]
"Can anyone pinpoint the year Karl ran out of ideas? We've seen all of this a thousand times before. I'm so tired of seeing the Chanel jacket with these odd proportions that are just unflattering on the body." [Chris_Couture05 ]
"Karl took Maria Grazia's depressive grey collection for Dior HC; and just added Mel & Kim hats from the 80s...and of course he used another flamboyant set, so everyone has something to talk about after the show." [jeanclaude ]
See all the looks from the Chanel collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Iris van Herpen
"I love everything about that collection!" [June ]
"She should do McQueen." [bennyboy ]
"Hands down the best collection of this season! Truly stunning." [Piece Of Me ]
See all the looks from the Iris van Herpen collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Maison Margiela
"To me it was rather a questionable offering. The theme was good at the beginning, but the spirit of Margiela quickly got lost. I feel like we'd seen most of those looks before, too. I don't know but it's the first time I'm not sure if John was a good person to lead Margiela because this doesn't work anymore to me." [perhydrol ]
"I think one can't really question that, despite Galliano's technical prowess, something of the original Margiela spirit went lost for good." [bc collector ]
"It's an 'OK' collection, nothing horrible but nothing new, no? Usual deconstruction/layering quickly wrapped around the waist with a chunky belt we've seen a lot already. The last collection was more impressive." [IloveDiorHomme ]
See all the looks from the Maison Margiela collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Ulyana Sergeenko
"Not at all familiar with Ulyana Sergeenko but I thought this was a very beautiful collection, flicking through the looks on Vogue 's website. I love the 1940s inspiration, the styling and the outdoor setting on the whole show. Wonderful!" [vogue28 ]
"Fabulous! Love the 40s inspiration, this collection was glamorous and very well executed. The craftsmanship looks extremely good. My favourite couture collection so far together with Atelier Versace." [apple ]
"I love Ulyana's distinctly European style and I can imagine her wearing all of these." [Nomar ]
See all the looks from the Ulyana Sergeenko collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Ralph & Russo
"There's a bit of a conflict between the influences. It's like Elie Saab is fighting against Marchesa and Versace." [Lola701 ]
"OMG, I've never seen so many dresses that look like others in one runway. I see Chanel, I see Versace, I see Giambattista Valli, I see Raf Simons, Marchesa, Saab, Gucci, Valentino, Fendi...I even see Zuhair Murad!" [Fotoholic24 ]
"There are some genuinely stunning pieces in this collection, but also many complete misses. It lacks cohesion overall, too many ideas jumbled up for one collection. They need to learn to edit." [333101 ]
See all the looks from the Ralph & Russo collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Viktor & Rolf
"I like this. I am not going to even try to deny that. I think they are getting better and better with their haute couture offerings. They started off shaky, but each season it seems to have gotten better. I love the colours a lot." [Salvatore ]
"This is Viktor & Rolf getting back to the magic that made me fall in love with them in the first place when they came up! They are really at their very best when they subvert the pieces everybody knows, in this case the classic bomber jacket... The approach is somewhat similar to Junya Watanabe's but the outcome always much more surrealistic with Viktor & Rolf." [tricotineacetat ]
"This collection is crazy but I'm not sure about this mix of couture and sort of regular clothing, I mean it somehow doesn't work well to me. On the other hand I get the idea because if they had gone only for that concept of big headed dolls, it would have looked ridiculous. The best part here is the colour palette." [perhydrol ]
See all the looks from the Viktor & Rolf collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Jean Paul Gaultier
"Oh my. The lack of cohesion in this show baffles me to no end. I feel like I'm looking at bits-n-pieces of different shows here." [eugenius ]
"This is all over the place- there's so much going on with colour and silhouette and the transition between segments feels abrupt. It feels like you're watching three shows at once." [AnaD ]
"For the most part, it looks very dated. I think the styling takes an important part of that. Those awful leggings and shoes just cheapen the allure of the collection. He also needs to do something with his set." [Lola701 ]
See all the looks from the Jean Paul Gaultier collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Armani Privé
"Really gorgeous, I love all the suits he had in the opening section. The prints do get a bit busy, but overall it's really beautiful." [AnaD ]
"So luxurious! The first part is incredible, those sharp suits, those colors. I'm a not fan of those complicated gowns in the end. But still a great couture collection for sure." [IloveDiorHomme ]
See all the looks from the Armani Privé collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Zuhair Murad
"Poor man's Elie Saab." [lavender ] "I just don't see the difference anymore between a Zuhair Murad collection and an Elie Saab collection." [lightblue ]See all the looks from the Zuhair Murad collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Valentino
"Simply the best collection of the season. It's mature, totally wearable and feminine. I loved the colour palette and silhouettes, especially that last look on Faretta was fantastic in motion. I feel like this was a quintessence of haute couture because it wasn't about four silhouettes with different embroideries, but it was about clothes that are perfect and have divine details. And you know, even Valentino himself gave this a standing ovation." [perhydrol ]
"I love how mature Valentino has gotten. It's not old or matronly at all, but the collections have a more grown up style and sensuality to them than they had when the brand was headed by the duo. It's stylish, feminine, and subtly sexy without looking sweet, and the collections feel more wearable than they have in years." [AnaD ]
"Wow that's a nice move from Valentino! So happy he left the Game of Thrones world to something more modern. Amazing colors!" [IloveDiorHomme ]
See all the looks from the Valentino collection .
Image: Imaxtree
MISS: Fendi
"Flowers made with animal corpses...hideous!" [jeanclaude ] "Seriously getting sick of Fairy Tale Fashion." [dior_couture1245 ]See all the looks from the Fendi collection .
Image: Imaxtree
HIT: Elie Saab
"He is returning to the type of fashion he used to do when he first came in Paris. It's very opulent but at the same time much more subtle and 'chic' than before." [Lola701 ] "Oh my stars this collection is beautiful; every detail on all the dresses is stunning. I particularly love the dark green creations. Wow." [sweetpop ]See all the looks from the Elie Saab collection .
Image: Imaxtree
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