Celia Kritharioti's New Couture Collection is a Paean to a Propitious Post-Pandemic Future

Backstage in Paris at the couture show of Greek designer Celia Kritharioti, a model strikes a pose in a jaunty, scintillating creation from the SS22 collection. All photographs and cover picture by Ell Ioannou for DAM

Celia Kritharioti's new Spring/Summer 2022 couture collection was presented at a live show and was one of the highlights of Paris Couture Week. We go backstage to see the celebratory, vividly-hued gowns that are a paean to a happier future post-pandemic. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Elli Ioannou 

Brilliant colour, fluidity and volume

were themes of the show

GREEK couturier Celia Kritharioti brought brilliant colour and glimmering gowns to the runway for her latest haute couture collection. 

The designer was keen to bring a sense of positivity and happiness to her Spring/Summer 2022 collection as an antidote to the past two years enduring a world dominated by Covid-19. 

She chose to have a physical show while many other designers presented their collections digitally with short films and photographs. 

However, there is nothing like the real thing with the excited buzz of chatter and preparation before the show backstage and the audience waiting in anticipation beside the runway. 

The show was held in the Saut du Loup space at Paris' Palais de Tokyo. The models all looked like beautiful, brightly-hued butterflies in their gowns. which ran from jazzy short cocktail dresses to elegant and voluminous ballgowns. 

Embroidery was a highlight of the collection created by Kritharioti's specialist artisans. The colour palette ranged from blue, lime and chartreuse to yellow, orange and fuchsia pink. Long capes were embellished with ostrich feathers while sparkling motifs, transparency and cut-outs enhanced the figure-hugging designs. 

 

Celia Kritharioti was keen to bring a sense of positivity and happiness to her collection as an antidote to the past two years enduring a world dominated by Covid-19. 

Backstage the models get ready

before the runway show

The designer's atelier is based in Athens and her fashion house is the oldest in Greece, founded in 1904 by her family. 

As a child she was surrounded by all of the accoutrements of a fashion business including textiles, seamstresses and embroiderers and later travelled to Paris for shows like Dior and Chanel. 

Although Celeia Kritharioti went on to study business and economics, it wasn't long before she was drawn back into fashion with a particular focus on haute couture which she sees as an art. 

Today, she has a fashion house that encompasses exquisite bridal gowns, ready-to-wear and the couture dresses that are worn on the red-carpet by high-profile women from Gwyneth Paltrow and Heidi Klum to Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga.  

Celia Kritharioti first presented her collections in Paris five years ago and since then her shows have been outstanding  for their combination of both exuberance and elegance.

Scroll down to see more backstage and the the runway show or tap pictures for a full-screen slideshow

Paris Couture Week: Streetstyle at Dior Spring/Summer 2022

Italian entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni with sister Valentina in Paris, on their way to the Dior haute couture show a the Musee Rodin. Photograph and cover picture by Elli Ioannou for DAM

Streetstyle during Paris Couture Week is one of the highlights of the fashion calendar. Fashionistas pose against the 18th century, honey-coloured stone buildings around the Musée Rodin where the Dior show is  staged. Chiara Ferragni attended and joined a front row that included Rosamund Pike, Beatrice Borromeo Casiraghi and Claire Foy. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Elli Ioannou 

Guests gather outside the entrance

to the Musée Rodin in Paris

for the SS22 Dior Couture show

DESPITE the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in France, Paris Couture Week has already had dramatic live shows on the first two days of this season's schedule. While there are 30 shows on the official haute couture calendar only half were physical shows, the rest were digital. Kanye West sat in the front row at Kenzo at the debut collection by Nigo as well at the brilliant Neo-Surrealist show by Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli. 

However, the new Dior couture collection by Maria Grazie Chiuri was much lower key than those shows with a palette of soft greys, cream and black in a series of finely-tailored suits and shimmering gowns. The clothes provided a neutral foil for the giant, vividly hued tapestries hanging on the walls along the runway. 

Held in the garden of the Musée Rodin, in the signature Dior white cube, the embroidered wall hangings were created by artists Madhvi and Manu Parekh. These were made by an Indian school that Chiuri works with called Chanakya, where women are taught traditional crafts. 

The colossal display had 400 artisans working on the embroidery. This will be open to the public from January 25th to the 30th as an art exhibition. 

The street style outside the Musée Rodin and the Dior show was covered by fast-moving photographers shooting fashionistas wearing the stylish to the surreal. Chiara Ferragni wore an emerald green Dior suit with fishnet stockings and long Sixties style boots while her sister Valentina decided on a more casual ensemble by the French maison including a beige denim jacket, houndstooth mini-skirt and stolid black lace-ups. 

Bryan Boy maintained his blond locks and carried a pictorial Dior bag. Veteran Vogue fashion journalist and show stalwart Suzy Menkes wore a combination of purple coat and aqua green scarf. While not everyone had the magic ticket to enter the Dior tent, people were happy to be out and participating in Paris fashion week while the pandemic rages on..

Scroll down to see the highlights from street style at the Dior haute couture show in Paris or tap pictures for full screen slideshow.

Postmodern Dance at London's Tate: Set and Reset by Trisha Brown

Trish Oesterling, Carolyn Lucas, David Thomson, Gregory Lara in Set and Reset (1983). Photo © Mark Hanauer 1993. Cover picture: Candoco Dance Company, Set and Reset/Reset. Photography by Camilla Greenwell, 2021.

This month, London's Tate Modern will launch a reconceived version of Trisha Brown’s ground-breaking 1983 postmodern dance Set and Reset with the original music by Laurie Anderson and stage-set and costumes by Robert Rauschenberg. In March, the renowned Candoco Dance Company and Rambert will form part of the installation, Isabella Lancellotti reports

Set and Reset, photographed by Eric Boudet 2011

TRISHA Brown was one of the most influential dancers and choreographers of her generation. Celebrated for her artistic experimentalism and collaboration with other artists, musicians and designers in 1960s New York, Brown pioneered a unique process of ‘memorised improvisation’. 

Set and Reset marked an important shift in Brown’s practice where her fluid yet idiosyncratic dance style was developed into a multi-layered choreographic structure. Comprising choreography by Brown, soundtrack by Laurie Anderson, stage-set and costumes by Robert Rauschenberg and lighting by Beverly Emmons, Set and Reset first premiered in 1983 and marked a pivotal moment in dance and art history. 

The display at Tate Modern will feature elements from the staging, as well as documentation of the performance, and rarely seen videotapes that show Brown building and rehearsing the choreography with her dancers. The stage-set, costumes, soundtrack and lighting, devised by Brown and her collaborators, will join Tate’s collection as an installation. This acquisition opens up new possibilities for how museums can collect and represent dance as it intersects with visual art.

With choreography by Brown, a soundtrack by Laurie Anderson and stage-set and costumes by Robert Rauschenberg Set and Reset marked a pivotal moment in dance and art history

From 12–14 March 2022, the London-based dance company Rambert will perform Set and Reset within the installation at Tate Modern, marking the first time that dancers outside of the Trisha Brown Dance Company have been allowed to perform the 1983 iteration of the work. Alongside the original score, lighting, sets and costumes, Rambert will showcase the fluid and unpredictable style of the original choreography. The following week, from 19–21 March 2022, Candoco Dance Company will perform Set and Reset/Reset, a radical reconstruction of Brown’s original choreography fused with the dancers’ own impulses and instincts. 

Candoco Dance Company, Set and Reset, Reset II,

Photograhed by Camilla Green well 2021. 

As a contemporary dance company, Candoco seeks to expand and challenge the perceptions of what dance can be. Through its company of disabled and non-disabled dancers Candoco continually pushes the boundaries of dance, creating distinctive performances and far-reaching learning experiences. 

A seminal work in its repertoire, Set and Reset/Reset has been performed by the company to audiences across the world for more than ten years.

In collaboration with Trisha Brown Dance Company, Tate will also present Set and Reset/Unset, a series of informal performances that will provide a rare insight into the core principles and processes that Brown used to create her choreography. 

Taking place within the installation across multiple dates between March and August 2022, these free events will build upon Trisha Brown’s own history of combining spoken-word with movement and delivering lectures about her process while her dancers performed on stage.

The display and performances of Set and Reset form part of Tate’s plan to exhibit, collect and research live art and performance. 

Set and Reset by Trisha Brown is at Tate Modern from 24 January ~ 4 September 2022 and will be open daily 10.00~18.00, performances various. Admission free during public opening hours, tickets required for performances. For information call +44(0)20 7887 8888 or visit tate.org.uk.