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Simultaneously with the pop star Taylor Swift, designer Sarah Burton stepped into her Showgirl phase. For her second outing as Givenchy designer, Burton heightened the intensity with collars adorned with sparkling rhinestones along the décolletage, opulent peach-toned feather accents, a sleek and short cocktail dress in lipstick red leather, and supermodel Naomi Campbell in a tailored tuxedo blazer worn open over a barely-there lace trim bra.

Establishing a Fresh Direction

Burton's tenure at Givenchy under a year, but the former key collaborator at McQueen has quickly defined a unique persona for the house and for herself. The Givenchy fashion house, the iconic residence of the actress Audrey Hepburn and the little black dress, has an immaculate bloodline of elegance that runs from Paris to Hollywood, but it is a modest entity as a business. Previous designers at the house had primarily focused on streetwear and utility-coded metallic accents, but Burton is reintroducing the sophistication.

"My intention was for it to be erotic and sensual and to show skin," Burton noted backstage. "In efforts to empower women, we often reach for masculine codes, but I wanted to explore women's emotional depth, and the process of adorning and revealing."

There was covered-up allure, too, in an evening shirt in supple white leather. "Each woman is unique," Burton said. "At times when selecting models, a model tries on a garment and I can just tell that she is uncomfortable in high heels. So I change the look."

Reclaiming the Red Carpet

Givenchy is reaffirming its position in high-profile occasion wear. Burton has styled Timothée Chalamet in a soft yellow tuxedo at the Academy Awards, and model Kaia Gerber in a retro-inspired ballet dress of dark lace at the Venice film festival.

Schiaparelli’s Surreal Resurgence

The fashion house Schiaparelli, fashion’s house of surrealism, has been experiencing a revival under the American designer Daniel Roseberry. The following year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will host the premier British exhibition on Schiaparelli, looking at the work of designer Elsa Schiaparelli and the brand she created.

"Schiaparelli is not merely purchased, it becomes a collection," Roseberry remarked after the show.

Those who don Schiaparelli require no exhibition to tell them that these garments are artistic. Art-adjacency is positive for revenue – clothes come with gallery prices, with jackets starting at about £5,000. And profits, as well as visibility, is rising. The setting for the event was the Pompidou Centre in Paris, a further indication of how deeply this fashion house is connected to the arts.

Echoing Past Artistic Alliances

Roseberry revisited one of the iconic joint efforts of Schiaparelli with artist Salvador Dalí, the 1938 dress named "Tears" which will be in the V&A show. "This centered around revisiting the foundation of the fashion house," he noted.

The shredded details in the initial design were artistically applied, but for the contemporary take Roseberry tore into the silk crepe itself. In each version, the rips are eerily suggestive of flayed flesh.

Eerie Details and Playful Threat

A touch of threat is present at the Schiaparelli house – The founder called her mannequins, with their defined shoulders and nipped-in waists, as her miniature army – as well as a gleeful delight in a joke. Buttons in the form of fingernails and metallic nose ornaments as earrings are the distinctive language of the label. The standout feature of this event: synthetic fur created using brushes.

Surrealist elements appear across modern style. Cracked-egg heels – treading carefully, get it? – were a sellout at the brand Loewe. Surrealist distorted timepieces have walked the catwalk at the Moschino label. But Schiaparelli dominates this domain, and Roseberry presides over it.

"Garments from Schiaparelli possess a heightened theatricality which dominates the space," he said. A crimson dress was sliced with a geometric insert of skin-colored netting that sat roughly where a pair of knickers should, in a captivating deception of nudity. The tension between wearability and theatre is all part of the show.

New York Designers in Paris

A merry-go-round of designer debuts has introduced two New York favorites to the Parisian scene. The duo Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have left behind their Proenza Schouler label they founded in 2002 to lead Loewe, the Spanish leather house that expanded into a $1.5 billion powerhouse under the leadership of Jonathan Anderson before his departure to Dior.

The US designers appeared thrilled to be in Paris, France. Ellsworth Kelly brights brought an upbeat pop art aesthetic to the sophisticated art intelligence for which Loewe is currently known. Bright yellow loafers shook their tassels like Josephine Baker’s skirt; a crimson peplum blazer had the proud shiny curves of a tomato sauce container. And a party gown imitating a recently used bath sheet, fluffy as a freshly laundered bath sheet, captured the sweet spot where innovative design intersects with stylish enjoyment.