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Simultaneously with the pop star Taylor Swift, designer Sarah Burton embarked on her Showgirl period. During her second presentation as the creative director of Givenchy, Burton turned up the volume with collars adorned with sparkling rhinestones along the décolletage, opulent peach-toned feather accents, a compact and striking evening dress in bold crimson leather, and Naomi Campbell in a tailored tuxedo blazer left open over a barely-there lace trim bra.

A New Identity

Burton's tenure at Givenchy less than a year, but Alexander McQueen’s long-term right-hand woman has quickly defined a distinctive character for the house and for herself. Givenchy, the iconic residence of Audrey Hepburn and the timeless black dress, has an immaculate bloodline of glamour that runs from Paris to Hollywood, but it is a smaller player as a business. Her recent predecessors had mostly leaned into urban fashion and utility-coded metallic accents, but Burton is reintroducing the allure.

"The goal was to create something seductive and intimate and to reveal the body," Burton said after the show. "To strengthen women, we often adopt male-inspired styles, but I wanted to look at women's emotional depth, and the process of adorning and revealing."

Subtle seduction was evident, too, in a dress shirt in smooth white leather. "All women vary," Burton stated. "Occasionally during casting, a model dons a look and it becomes clear that she prefers not to wear heels. Therefore, I adjust the outfit."

Return to Glamorous Events

Givenchy is reaffirming its position in red carpet dressing. Burton has styled actor Timothée Chalamet in a soft yellow tuxedo at the Academy Awards, and Kaia Gerber in a classic ballerina-style gown of ebony lace at the Venice film festival.

Schiaparelli’s Surreal Resurgence

The brand Schiaparelli, the surrealist fashion label, has been making a comeback under the American designer Daniel Roseberry. In the coming year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host the first major British Schiaparelli exhibition, examining the work of the founder Elsa Schiaparelli and the brand she created.

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

Clients of Schiaparelli require no exhibition to tell them that these designs are masterpieces. Proximity to art is positive for revenue – garments carry art gallery price tags, with jackets starting at about £5,000. And income, as well as reputation, is rising. The venue for the show was the Centre Pompidou in Paris, another reminder of how deeply this fashion house is connected to the arts.

Echoing Past Artistic Alliances

Roseberry revisited one of the iconic joint efforts of Schiaparelli with artist Salvador Dalí, the 1938 "Tears" gown which will be in the V&A show. "This focused on going back to the roots of the brand," he said.

The torn effects in the original were carefully rendered, but for the modern iteration Roseberry tore into the crepe silk itself. In each version, the shreds are hauntingly reminiscent of stripped tissue.

Eerie Details and Playful Threat

A touch of threat is present at Schiaparelli – The founder called her mannequins, with their defined shoulders and cinched waists, as her plaything troops – as well as a cheerful embrace of wit. Buttons in the form of fingernails and metallic nose ornaments as earrings are the visual grammar of the brand. The punchline of this show: fake fur crafted from paintbrushes.

Avant-garde themes emerge throughout contemporary fashion. Eggshell-inspired heels – navigating delicately, get it? – were a sellout at the fashion house Loewe. Surrealist distorted timepieces have appeared on stage at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli leads in this area, and Roseberry commands it.

"Garments from Schiaparelli possess an extreme drama which sucks the air out of the room," he stated. A red gown was sliced with a geometric insert of skin-colored netting that was positioned approximately where underwear would typically be, in a head-swivelling illusion of nakedness. The tension between wearability and theatre is all part of the show.

American Creatives in the French Capital

A carousel of creative director launches has introduced two New York favorites to the French fashion world. The duo Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have departed from the fashion house Proenza Schouler they created in 2002 to lead Loewe, the Spanish leather house that expanded into a $1.5 billion powerhouse under the leadership of Jonathan Anderson before he moved to Dior.

The US designers appeared thrilled to be in the City of Light. Bold colors inspired by Ellsworth Kelly brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the in-the-know art smarts for which Loewe is currently known. Banana yellow loafers shook their tassels like Josephine Baker’s skirt; a red peplum jacket had the bold reflective shapes of a ketchup bottle. And a cocktail dress masquerading as a fresh-from-the-bath towel, fluffy as a freshly laundered bath sheet, captured the sweet spot where smart creation blends with sartorial amusement.