After a year of depriving fashion lovers of our rights to swoon seriously lust-worthy clothes, live fashion shows made their grand return in Paris as brands showcased their autumn/winter 2021 couture collections.

The invitation-only affair of Couture Fashion Week is, in fact, a fashion fan’s dream owing to the parade of divine dresses and sumptuous ensembles it showcases. And this season, after a long hiatus, it’s back and better than ever. 

Perhaps fittingly, the world of couture fashion is an exclusive one: in order for a brand to show during couture fashion week, they must have been invited by the official Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

The official criteria to qualify for couture status was established in 1945, but has been relaxed somewhat in recent years. At the end of 2019, there were sixteen members, including Chanel, Dior, Givenchy and Ralph & Russo, which was the only British couture house to make the official list. 

And after 18 months away from live fashion shows, brands have used Couture Fashion Week to make a splash, as a release from a year and a half’s worth of pent up creativity. 

Most notably this season, during which eight brands have staged physical shows, there was Pieter Mulier’s debut at Alaïa, following the Tunisian designer’s death in 2017, and streetwear supremo Demna Gvasalia’s first couture collection for Balenciaga, which marked the first time in 53 years that the brand has returned to the couture schedule. Gvasalia’s couture collection was a first of another kind too, as it was the first time that Ella Emhoff, the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, who recently signed with IMG Models, walked in a couture fashion show after making her catwalk debut at Proenza Schouler earlier this year. 

To close proceedings of the week’s glitzy affair, which saw celebs aplenty flock to the City of Lights, New York brand Pyer Moss made its couture debut with a show that celebrated Black excellence, making its creative director Kerby Jean-Raymond the first Black American fashion designer to take part in Couture Fashion Week. 

Last night, meanwhile, was Pierpaolo Piccioli’s turn at Valentino, which showcased its autumn/winter 2021 couture offering in the Gaggiandre, or ship building yard, of Venice. The collection comprised 84 looks, from short and sweet feather-adorned minis to floor-sweeping gowns fit for a princess.

Our dress-loving selves can hardly cope. These are just a *few* of the positively perfect dresses we’ve spotted from the couture collections and at Couture Fashion Week so far.  

Images: courtesy of brands and Getty Images.