Ralph and Russo, Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2019/2020

Unveiled in the grounds of the Embassy of the United Kingdom on the famous Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the Ralph & Russo Autumn-Winter 2019/2020 couture collection depicts a 1930s soirée en plein air; a lively scene wrought with flora, fauna and the majestic opulence of the Art Deco era. Lensed by the creative works of artist and designer, Erté, evening gowns are sensually draped and bestrewn with strings of pearls, exposing elongated hourglass silhouettes and emulating his Les Bijoux de Perle. Daring shades of red, pink, yellow and aqua are fused in ombré hues and juxtaposed with ice-white feather embellished cocktail dresses and black bejewelled smoking jackets; at once elegant and sophisticated, but with a masculine edge. Embellished in true Art Deco form with opalescent fan-shaped embroideries and designs that are simultaneously geometric and spherical, this season’s collection translates the pastiche of influences behind the Art Deco movement into a continued celebration of the modern female and her multi-faceted form amid the joie de vivre of an era almost a century past.