The Boléro Effect: Stéphane Rolland’s Haute Couture Crescendo in Paris

A short mini jacket dress with black embroidered flare by Stéphane Rolland, part of his soigné AW25/26 collection shown in Paris. Photograph (above) by Andrea Heinsohn and cover picture by Jay Zoo for DAM 

For his new haute couture collection in Paris, Stéphane Rolland approached fashion as a form of composition, using structure, rhythm, and repetition as guiding principles. Presented at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the collection was shaped by musical references to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro and the legacy of Ida Rubinstein, but its core remained firmly rooted in the French couturier's sculptural aesthetic. With an emphasis on architectural silhouettes, controlled pacing, and choreographed movement, the designer offered a study in contrasts, between restraint and excess, tradition and abstraction, translating musical form into couture construction. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Andrea Heinsohn and Jay Zoo. 

Long poncho dress in red

chiffon with organza leaves. 

Photograph; Andrea Heinsohn

INSIDE the storied auditorium of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées ~ where once Stravinsky's Rite of Spring caused a riot ~ Stéphane Rolland staged a performance of a different kind: his Autumn/Winter 2025 haute couture collection, composed in homage to Maurice Ravel and Ida Rubinstein. What unfolded on the runway was not merely a fashion show, but a dramatic and lyrical presentation. 

This season, Rolland's signature architectural flair and cinematic storytelling channeled the dual legacies of Ravel, the modernist composer with a taste for precision, and Rubinstein, the unconventional dancer and patron who dared to commission works that would shape ballet history. The result was a couture collection steeped in the sensual, the abstract and the folkloric, inspired by the rigor of an orchestra and the abandon of dance.

The designer’s fascination with Ravel’s Boléro served as a key inspiration. The piece’s famously unrelenting rhythm, a crescendo that builds over the course of nearly twenty minutes without deviating from its tempo, informed not only the music played live by Zahia Ziouani’s Divertimento Orchestra, but even the construction of the garments themselves. The designs on the runway revealed their own rhythm while escalating toward a dramatic climax.

"The collection oscillates between tension and ornament, between restraint and opulence, between the spirit of ballet and the machine. Like Rubinstein and Ravel, it is a meeting of opposites, a haute couture symphony where modern rigor, almost Japanese in style, is overtaken by Spanish fantasy," explains Stéphane Rolland.

This season, Stéphane Rolland's signature architectural flair and cinematic storytelling channeled the dual legacies of Maurice Ravel and Ida Rubinstein,

Black, backless jersey dress with 

cubic collar in gazar and satin.

Photograph: Jay Zoo

Rolland’s silhouettes emerged in orchestrated succession, structured like musical scores. The early pieces were bold and sharply drawn, dark crêpe gowns with severe cut-outs, tuxedos featuring oversized lapels, and suits sliced into perfect semicircles.

The monochromatic palette of black created a sculptural foundation upon which bursts of red, gold, and crystal later exploded with theatrical flourish. These were not garments simply made to be worn, but compositions rendered in textile, guided by a designer conductor's invisible baton.

The collection traced an Iberian thread, an ode to the Spanish inspirations that haunted both Ravel and Rubinstein’s imaginations. Rolland leaned into this shared dreamscape through matador coats embroidered with fine detail, flamenco-style gowns that billowed, and shimmering boleros that flickered under the lights. 

But instead of romanticizing tradition, Rolland reimagined it through a futuristic lens, executing the flamenco’s fire with sequins laid like circuitry, or shaping a bullfighter’s silhouette with cubist angularity. In doing so, he fused the ornamental past with a futuristic tomorrow.

The theme traces an Iberian thread, an ode to the Spanish inspirations that haunted both Ravel and Rubinstein’s imaginations

Openwork long dress in red silk

crepe and gazar, embroidered

with crystals and red cubes

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn. 

Texture and movement were at the heart of Rolland’s collection too. Sculpted silk gazar, translucent chiffon, and sequins, some black and ghostly, others crystal-clear brought luminosity and depth. 

Capes cascaded like molten obsidian, while embroidery was embossed across bodices with baroque intensity. At every turn, the garments demanded attention not just for their artistry, but because they were made to move.

In many ways, the choice of venue was symbolic. The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, built in 1913 by avant-garde architects and artists, was one of Paris’ earliest experiments in reinforced concrete, a fitting match for a collection that finds its poetry in structure. 

Commissioned by impresario Gabriel Astruc, the theatre was built upon the designs of brothers Auguste Perret and Gustave Perret following a scheme by Henry van de Velde. It was the first example of Art Deco architecture in the Paris. Less than two months after its inauguration, the Théâtre hosted the world premiere of the Ballets Russes' Rite of Spring, which provoked the famous classical music uproar.

It was here, too, that Ravel premiered Boléro in 1928, a work born from a complicated artistic history. After an initial plan to orchestrate pieces by Isaac Albéniz fell through, Ravel, frustrated, perhaps even threatened by competing interpretations, created something original, spare, and hypnotic. That energy of reinvention under pressure seems to echo in Rolland’s latest endeavor.

"The collection oscillates between tension and ornament, between restraint and opulence, between the spirit of ballet and the machine"

Dramatic white dress with cubic 

sleeves in jersey and gazar.

Photograph: Jay Zoo 

To understand this season’s emotional undercurrent, one must also look to the story of Ida Rubinstein herself. A woman of extremes, she traversed Paris in the Belle Époque as both muse and maverick. Orphaned early and shrouded in scandal, she crafted her own narrative, through performance, through patronage, and through sheer will. 

Whether commissioning ballets, curating her own company, or defying social norms, Rubinstein embodied a unique hybrid of discipline and abandon. Her life, much like Ravel’s music, was lived in a bold, and audacious way, often against the mores of the time. 

Rolland’s collection carries that spirit of duality. It is not merely a visual response to a piece of music or a historical figure; it is a considered meditation on contrasts, between heritage and modernity, between ornamentation and restraint. Even the finale, a white bridal gown crowned with a golden dome, balanced sacred symbolism with futuristic minimalism. The bride did not simply close the show; she concluded the symphony. 

The orchestral presence of Zahia Ziouani, conducting live, elevated the entire production from fashion to performance art. A trailblazing conductor known for her work in democratising classical music through youth education and cultural outreach, she mirrored Rolland’s ethos of access and transformation. Her ensemble’s interpretation of Boléro was commanding, steady, and alive with the very pulse Rolland sought to bring alive in fabric. The collaboration between conductor and couturier felt as integral to the narrative as the clothes themselves.

The designs are composed not with melodic frills but with architectural mastery, a visual boléro which recall Ravel’s virtuosity and Rubinstein’s expressive flair

Matador vest in silk embroidered

with gold and crystal and a low

waisted long. black skirt in gazar.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

There’s a potent symbolism in Rolland choosing to build a collection around Boléro, a piece that, by Ravel’s own admission, contains no melody in the conventional sense. What it does possess, however, is an unrelenting pace. 

The fashion, too, avoided traditional flourishes in favor of structural repetition and crescendo. The garments are composed not with melodic frills but with architectural mastery, a visual boléro which recall Ravel’s virtuosity and Rubinstein’s expressive flair.

And yet, beneath the precision, the collection was undeniably emotional. This was haute couture not as fantasy escape, but as reflection ~ on legacy, on transformation, and on the meeting point between rigor and reverie. Yet Stéphane Rolland composed a collection animated by his own craftsmanship and contemporary vision.

As the final notes faded and the bride vanished into darkness, the audience remained suspended, caught somewhere between past and future, sound and silence, cloth and choreography. Rolland’s latest couture collection wasn’t just a tribute to Ravel or Rubinstein. It was a reminder that when fashion listens closely to music, and when design dances with history, something more transcendent can emerge.

Scroll to see more highlights from Stephane Rolland's Autumn/Winter 2025 Haute Couture Collection. 

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph; Jay Zoo 

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph; Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph; Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Jay Zoo

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Stéphane Rolland, Autumn-Winter 2025/2026, Paris Haute Couture. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn