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The gilded splendour of Stephane Rolland's SS23 haute couture show in Paris. Cover picture by Elli Ioannou. Main picture (above) by Matthew Fisher.
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French couturier Stephane Rolland's Spring/Summer 2023 haute couture collection, presented in Paris, is his most spectacular yet, showcasing both
his creativity and artistry as a designer, writes Jeanne-Marie
Cilento. Reporting by Antonio Visconti. Photography by Elli Ioannou, Matthew Fisher and Nathan Geary
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French couturier Stephane Rolland is touched by the appreciative audience at the show finale. Photograph: Nathan Geary |
"BRAVO, BRAVO," the guests
called as they rose to their feet in a standing ovation at the finale of French
couturier Stephane Rolland's thrilling haute couture show in Paris, a rare
accolade from a Parisian fashion week audience.
The music was
exhilarating and Rolland's creations coming down the gilded runway at the Théâtre de Chaillot were equally dramatic. All of the designer's skills as a couturier
were on display with the sculptural gowns a tour-de-force of French
savoir faire.
The crescendo of the show was the bride emerging on to the runway in a gleaming golden cloqué lamé creation, a fittingly striking last look. Embellished with Marajoara sculptures, the design was inspired by a small, gilded Madonna sculpture, called Our Lady of Aparecida housed in a colossal basilica (45,000 people can be accommodated), in São Paulo, Brazil.
The theme of Stephane Rolland's collection was initially inspired by Marcel Camus' 1959 Brazilian film, Black Orpheus. A modern adaptation of the Greek legend
of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in a favela in Rio
de Janeiro during Carnival. The film went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes
Film Festival plus the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language
Film.
Stephane Rolland also planned his show like a film or play in three visual acts, with the first part an ode to the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and the music of Rio de Janeiro's bossa nova. Black Orpheus is also famous for its
soundtrack by the Brazilians composers Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, whose works became classics of bossa nova.
All of the designer's skills as a
couturier were on display with the sculptural gowns a tour de force
of French savoir faire.
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Sculptural shapes and emroidered gemstones are favoured motifs.
Photograph:Nathan Geary
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The couturier's signature minimalism of crisp silhouettes and fluid fabrics brings a strong contemporary ethos to the collection. The richness and colour of this season's Brazilian inspiration is provided by Rolland's brilliant use of gemstones, embroidering them into his designs.
He created glistening collars of lapis lazuli, sparkling amethysts, deep green malachite, translucent jade and polished wood. No other couturier works with gemstones, making them an integral part of their designs as much as Stephane Rolland ~ and this makes his work particularly rich and layered.
The short Sambadrome dress in white
gazar is embroidered with glistening jade (see above) opens like petals around the head and finishes with swirling curves above the thighs. Gazar is a wonderfully sculptural silk organza that was developed by couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga with a Swiss textile firm in the 1960s. Stepane Rolland worked at the famous maison in his early twenties soon becoming its youngest artistic director.
In the second part of his current collection, Rolland looks to Amazonian art with column-like totem dresses in jersey and crepe embroidered with symbols and shimmering mirrors. Highlights of this series include a long, coffee-brown jersey and
gazar dress with Rolland's signature three dimensional sculptural embellishments, this time with a “Brasilia” style embroidery created in lacquer and white
jersey.
Another standout was a diaphanous gown in emerald chiffon with a deep decolletage embroidered with malachite and jade. Gemstones were also a feature of the jersey jumpsuit embroidered with luminous lapis lazuli. Large, eye-catching cuffs added to the drama along with stem-like, sparkling crystal earrings.
Stephane Rolland's signature minimalism with crisp silhouettes and fluid fabrics brings a strong contemporary ethos to the collection.
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Glimmering gold was the theme of the last 'act' of the collection. Photograph: Elli Ioannou |
In the third act of the show, the designer harks back to the
Black Orpheus film and the conquistadors, with a symbolic rising sun at end of the runway. The conquistadors, the Spanish and Portuguese explorers who travelled to the Americas in the 15th
and 16th centuries, were in search of gold. Stephane Rolland uses all of these themes and the baroque Bahia churches as inspiration to create golden gowns as a splendid finale.
