Lebanese fashion designer Georges Chakra joined prestigious international fashion houses in showing his fall/winter 2016-17 Couture collection at Paris Fashion Week. His show was held at the Jardin des Tuileries in the center of the city last Tuesday. Chakra is one of the Lebanese fashion designers who for some time now have been producing the kind of refined haute couture fashion that can compete with the prestigious international fashion houses on the global stage at Paris Fashion Week.

Haute couture fashion distinguishes itself as the height of luxury, with designs being created entirely by hand with obsessive attention to detail and made from the highest quality if fabrics. They are custom-made and exclusive.

The Paris Fashion Week sees a large number of celebrities attending shows to scope out looks from the big names for their upcoming red carpet events.

As usual a large crowd of fashion lovers and celebrities such as Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Czech model and philanthropist Petra Nemcova, Chinese actress Kira Shi, model Jessica Min Anh, French actresses Vanessa Demouy and Emmanuelle Boidron as well as French model and beauty pageant winner Flora Coquerel attended Chakra's show alongside international press.

For this new collection, Chakra's new muse ignites passion and romance through melancholia. The silhouette is consumed with desire and dresses are adorned with incandescent feathers, sequins, crystals, pearls, and petals.

Chakra's trademark is architectural cuts and silhouettes that emphasize the waist. The cut is graphical, the shoulder detail is sensual and the fringes and pleats play with light and shadow. Capes and coats are paired with sheath dresses or jumpsuits and long trains add drama to the twirl.

The fabrics chosen for this season's collection include velvet, tulle as light as a feather, glamorous organza and intricate guipure lace. Crisp pleats are perfectly crossed, sequins shimmer and stun and silk gazar floats down the runway.

The color palette is dark and rebellious but despite black and deep colors, there is a ray of light in the blush and Indian pink, pale yellow, blue wisteria, scarab green, ruby red, royal white with some gold and silver accents that capture the attention.

The grand finale of the show was the wedding gown of ivory, with hand painted platinum, gold and fuchsia twirls.

If you are planning for weddings or galas in the upcoming season now is the time to start making appointments to be ready for special occasions in the few months to come.

By Hadia Sinno