Fashion front row

EN - The haute couture Parisian fashion shows for the season fall/winter 2011 recently took place. 
Please let me do a small preface. Haute couture ("high sewing") refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. It is made to order for a specific customer and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. This concept is opposing to prêt-à-porter ("ready to wear"), which is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. The haute couture is addressed to élite customers, for exclusive social events. The fashion with a larger target of customers doesn't take any inspiration by the haute couture, it will  wait for the prêt-à-porter. The haute couture is mainly a demonstration of the skills of a fashion house and it represents the most unreachable part of the fashion system.
I personally preferred having a peek in the front rows of these fashion shows rather than in these high creations.

IT - Si sono da poco concluse le sfilate parigine haute couture autunno/inverno 2011. 

Mi si conceda una piccola prefazione. Il termine haute couture ("alta moda") si riferisce alla produzione di abiti esclusivi dai tessuti molto pregiati, cuciti a mano da abilissime sarte per clienti specifici e su misura. Questo concetto si contrappone a quello di prêt-à-porter ("pronto da indossare"), basato sulla produzione in serie e in taglie standard. Gli abiti haute couture sono destinati ad un'élite di clienti per occasioni mondane ed esclusive. La moda più ad ampio spettro e con un target ben più vario non vi trae alcuna ispirazione, per quella aspetterà il prêt-à-porter.  L'haute couture è soprattutto una dimostrazione di bravura da parte di una casa di moda e rappresenta quanto di più irraggiungibile ci sia nel mondo della moda.

Personalmente ho trovato più interessante sbirciare tra le prime file di queste sfilate, piuttosto che soffermarmi su tali pregiatissime crezioni.

Present the three editor in chief of Vogue America, France and Italy. Polka-dots for Carine Roitfeld, impeccable Franca Sozzani, chic Anna Wintour.

 Franca Sozzani, Carine Roitfeld and Anna Wintour attend the Valentino PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011
at Place Vendome on July 7, 2010 in Paris, France.

Delfina Delettrez Fendi, Margarita Missoni, Gaia Repossi and Eugenie Niarchos attend 

the Valentino PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 at Place Vendome on July 7, 2010 in Paris, France. 

 Natalia Vodianova, Claire Danes, Jessica Alba and Olivia Palermo attend 

the Valentino PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 at Place Vendome on July 7, 2010 in Paris, France.

Cornelia "Coco" and Bianda Brandolini D'Adda attend the Valentino PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011
at Place Vendome on July 7, 2010 in Paris, France. 

Blue, black, white and red... but Inès de la Fressange is very elegant!

Inès de la Fressange attend the Jean-Paul Gaultier PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011
at the Jean-Paul Gaultiershow on July 7, 2010 in Paris, France.

Natalia Vodianova and Elisa Sednaoui attend the Chanel PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 

at Grand Palais on July 6, 2010 in Paris, France.

Lou Dillon and Milla Jovovich attend the Chanel PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 

at Grand Palais on July 6, 2010 in Paris, France.

Blake Lively (L) wears a Chanel Resort 2011.

Blake Lively and Jessica Alba attend the Chanel PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 

at Grand Palais on July 6, 2010 in Paris, France.

 

The piece of the collection Chanel Resort 2011 worn by Blake Lively.

Gemma Arterton (R) with the the fashion detail of the bow on the collar.

 Olivia Palermo and Gemma Arterton attend the Giorgio Armani Privè PFW Haute Couture F/W 2011 

at Espace Vendome on July 6, 2010 in Paris, France.

Source of the photos: Getty Images, Style.com