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Coinciding with the pop star Taylor Swift, Sarah Burton entered her Showgirl era. During her second presentation as the creative director of Givenchy, Burton turned up the volume with collars dripping rhinestones along the décolletage, luscious peach maribou feathers, a compact and striking evening dress in bold crimson leather, and Naomi Campbell in a formal tuxedo coat worn open over a barely-there lace trim bra.

Establishing a Fresh Direction

Burton's role at Givenchy under a year, but the longtime associate of Alexander McQueen has quickly defined a distinctive character for the brand and for herself. The Givenchy fashion house, the spiritual home of Audrey Hepburn and the little black dress, has an immaculate bloodline of glamour that extends from the French capital to Tinseltown, but it is a smaller player as a business. Her recent predecessors had mostly leaned into urban fashion and functional metal embellishments, but Burton is bringing back the allure.

"My intention was for it to be erotic and sensual and to expose flesh," Burton said following the presentation. "In efforts to empower women, we often adopt male-inspired styles, but I wanted to examine female emotional intelligence, and dressing and undressing."

Concealed appeal was also present, too, in an evening shirt in supple white leather. "All women vary," Burton said. "At times when selecting models, a model dons a look and I immediately sense that she prefers not to wear heels. Therefore, I adjust the outfit."

Return to Glamorous Events

Givenchy is rebuilding its presence in high-profile occasion wear. Burton has outfitted actor Timothée Chalamet in a butter yellow tuxedo at the Oscar ceremony, and Kaia Gerber in a classic ballerina-style gown of dark lace at the cinematic event in Venice.

The Revival of Schiaparelli

Schiaparelli, the surrealist fashion label, has been experiencing a revival under the American designer Daniel Roseberry. Next year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host the first major British Schiaparelli exhibition, exploring the work of designer Elsa Schiaparelli and the brand she created.

"Acquiring Schiaparelli is not about buying, you collect Schiaparelli," Roseberry declared after the show.

Clients of Schiaparelli don’t need an exhibition to tell them that these garments are artistic. Proximity to art is positive for revenue – garments carry art gallery price tags, with outerwear priced from approximately £5,000. And profits, as well as visibility, is rising. The location of the presentation was the Pompidou Centre in Paris, a further indication of how close this house sits with art.

Echoing Past Artistic Alliances

Roseberry reexamined one of the most renowned partnerships of Elsa with surrealist master Dalí, the 1938 “Tears” dress which will appear in the V&A display. "This focused on returning to the origins of the house," he said.

The shredded details in the initial design were artistically applied, but for the contemporary take Roseberry shredded the crepe silk itself. In both designs, the tears are chillingly evocative of skinned skin.

Surreal Elements and Menacing Charm

There is an edge of menace at the Schiaparelli brand – Elsa described her mannequins, with their defined shoulders and tailored waists, as her miniature army – as well as a gleeful delight in a joke. Fingernail-inspired fasteners and gold noses dangling as earrings are the visual grammar of the brand. The punchline of this show: fake fur crafted from paintbrushes.

Avant-garde themes emerge across modern style. Eggshell-inspired heels – navigating delicately, geddit? – were highly sought-after at the brand Loewe. Dali-esque wonky clocks have graced the runway at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli owns this territory, and Roseberry presides over it.

"Garments from Schiaparelli possess a heightened theatricality which captivates everyone present," he expressed. A red gown was sliced with a triangular piece of nude-hued fabric that was positioned approximately where underwear would typically be, in a startling illusion of bare skin. The interplay of functionality and spectacle is integral to the presentation.

US Talents Take on Paris

A whirlwind of new designer introductions has brought two darlings of New York to the Parisian scene. Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have left behind the fashion house Proenza Schouler they founded in 2002 to take over Loewe, the Spanish leather house that expanded into a £1.1 billion leading brand under the tenure of Jonathan Anderson before his departure to Dior.

The US designers appeared thrilled to be in the City of Light. Ellsworth Kelly brights brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the sophisticated art intelligence for which Loewe has become recognized. Vivid yellow slip-ons shook their tassels like Josephine Baker’s skirt; a red peplum jacket had the bold reflective shapes of a ketchup bottle. And an evening dress disguised as a recently used bath sheet, plush as a newly washed cloth, found the perfect balance where clever design meets fashion fun.