“A botanical menagerie of caged birds” was the inspiration for Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig’s feminine Marchesa spring lineup. And while it was frothy with its pale pinks, greens and yellows, there was also a darker, romantic mood weaved throughout.

There were fluffy feathered skirts, 3-D embroideries of flora and fauna, artfully arched modesty-preserving wings. Bird and petal motifs rendered in 3-D embroidery imbued movement and texture to the lineup’s dramatic evening gowns.

With voluminous skirts featuring layers of dip-dyed tulle in an ombré of pastels, the gowns, some decorated with back bows and lace-up detailing, were nothing short of exquisite.

Image Source: vogue.com

Text Sources: wwd.com   vogue.com

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Dolce and Gabbana chose Portofino as the location to launch their new haute couture ( alta moda in their mother tongue) on the world. Not just alta moda, but alta sartoria and alta gioellia: womenswear, menswear, and jewelry, a world of one-off splendors, essentially showcased in their own homes. Their sixteenth-century hilltop fortress Castello Brown was covered in twinkling fairy lights.

It is not every day that a couture show is staged by moonlight with the sound of the sea lapping against rocks and the lights of the clients’ mega-yachts twinkling in the near distance.

Guests converged from all over the world to participate in the designers’ weekend of “at home,” deliberately surreal entertainment‎s. By the time the music of Verdi’s Aida had filled the dusky sky, the show had already lived up to what Stefano described as an experience “between fantasy and reality”.

“The fashion system is more than just labels,” he said, to explain the significance of Alta Moda. “You have to offer a sensation and an emotion – you have to tell a story.”

The event was one of those moments of enchantment, transporting fashion into a magical world of suspended disbelief, while still resting on a firm art and craft foundation.

Patchworked multicolored fox fur brocade Poiret coats and fur in offbeat colours from lichen green to dawn pink was worked into the clothing.

“We don’t count how many hours it took to make an Alta Moda piece. We don’t say, ‘how much was the fabric? How long did we spend screen-printing the tulips onto that silk to make them look as though they were hand-painted, or how many thousands of hand-sewn sequins are on that dress?’” said Domenico Dolce. “We do this from love, and for love of couture.”

Corseted ballgowns galore, black lace wicked widow see-through dresses, Maharaja bejwelled turbans and lushly sweeping silk kimonos.

The show was rich in intensely decorated and magical patterns, but also included a wardrobe of body-conscious dresses and sleek black tailoring that fulfilled the reality requirements.

There were the show-stopping ballgowns with their vast trains of painted feathers or tulle, studded with thousands of hand-stitched silk daisies, embroidered peacocks or printed with parrots and squirrels.

In total the designers sent out 94 outfits – an array of fairy-like and magical garments with exceptional decorative handwork.

“I love Shakespeare!” proclaimed Stefano, to explain flowered hoops held by male servers in Tudor dress, while a woman with a harp played “Greensleeves”, and the melody drifted into the sunset.

Dolce & Gabbana Castle in Portofino

Clients clinked champagne glasses from the rustic ground, while overhead two acrobats swung like Shakespearean sprite Puck from the trees.

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 Portofino Setting

A Roman centurion and Renaissance pages were holding flower-garlanded arches over the heads of arriving guests, trees sprouted ceramic Majolica apples, nymphs with filigree wings and Puck-like figures suspended from branches.

Dante, Homer and Shakespeare coming together in the designers own version of 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'. Lewis Carroll also played a part in the mise en scène that transformed Dolce’s garden into a hybrid paradise: grapes on a palm tree, watermelons on an olive tree, orange trees with chestnuts, and a massive upside-down oak, roots waving in the air. “What’s real, what’s fantasy, you won’t know,” Gabbana teased before the show.

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015 High Jewellery

To produce almost one hundred pieces of such sartorial perfection made this Dolce & Gabbana collection seem out of this world.

Or, as William Shakespeare put it so poetically: “Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream.”

Image Sources:   style.com   en.vogue.fr   Telegraph.co.ukLuxurystyle.com    vogue.com

Text Sources: vogue.com   Telegraph.co.uk Luxurystyle.com    en.Vogue.fr/ Suzy Menkes   style.com   

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There are different kinds of couture fans: those who want it to move with the times, embracing modernity à la Raf Simons at Dior; those who long for the theatrics and drama of Galliano's heyday; and then there are those of British-based couture house Ralph & Russo where old meets new seamlessly - with just a little couture fairy dust sprinkled on top.

 As far as it could be from the usual concept of the fashion-week spectacle, the Ralph & Russo show takes couture back to its inception - with the women who actually buy the dresses we were about to see waiting eagerly for their debut, some actually texting designer Tamara Ralph to ensure that the one per territory that the brand allows will not end up in the wardrobe of a rival princess or Russian heiress.

The Autumn/Winter 2015/16 Couture collection is called 'Enchanted Splendour'. Set against the backdrop of an enchanted forest, Tamara Ralph’s dreamy fairy tale like creations fit the princess theme from the neck down to the toes. Her work is a tour de force of elaborate design and labor-intensive artistry and the result is a sublime blend of tradition and modernity.

"We had a lot of vintage Sixties embroideries that we redeveloped, so that was the starting point in terms of fabric," Ralph says. "The Ralph & Russo girl this season is strong, she's beautiful; the shapes are more sensual, but within that we still have a range of styles for all our clients."

'Eden' Pumps in Midnight Blue AW15/16 pre-order at Harrod's Bourique

Ralph & Russo 'Baroque' Heel Pumps AW15/16 pre-order at Harrod's Boutique

'Eden' Pumps AW15/16 available to pre-order at Harrod's Boutique & by private order

Ralph's discerning eye goes a long way to creating an opulence that somehow still remains understated, a concept nowhere more evident than in this autumn's bridal finale.

Worn by Ana Beatriz Barros, the Victorian neckline and intricate gold embroidery of the dress was given a sexy hip-hugging shape.  How can something that is comprised of 700 metres of embroidered Chantilly lace be called "simple"? That's the Ralph & Russo je ne sais quoi.

Images Sources: Ralph & Russo    flip-zone.com    facebook/Ralph&Russo

Text Sources: Ralph & Russo     vogue/uk    wwd.com

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