Haute Couture F/W '14 Trend Report: All red everything

A Viktor&Rolf dress from the F/W '14
Haute Couture collection illustrated by me

Each Haute Couture season there is one super-popular color that makes editors and audience members go crazy. This time it was the color red - and we are talking about lots of it, in every shade imaginable.

The most eye-catching parade of all red looks was Viktor & Rolf's F/W '14 show. This season marked the duo's second time making couture after their long break from the extremely creative side of the business and as per they brought their
witty sense of humor along. The collection consists of twenty two red looks that unlike the competitors' garments created
for the red carpet, are actually made of one.

Another successful attempt at the all-red trend was Giorgio Armani's elegant fairy-tale. The classic Italian designer deci-ded to show a tricolored collection that put an emphasis on
the importance of red, thus showing incredibly sculpted eve-ning wear in the fiery color which is surely to turn heads on
the red carpet come awards season.

The color was inevitable in almost every other collection. Hussein Chalayn's first attempt at Vionnet saw the designer play with different shades of red in the form of pleats; Karl Lagerfeld injected the color in his feminine three-piece suits woven with concrete for Chanel; Alexandre Vauthier over-embellished a red mini with sparkling crystals and Russian socialite-cum-designer Ulyana Sergeenko used it as one of the colors for her gradient furs.

Red also found itself on the runways at Schiaparelli in the form of a fuzzy red coat, at Valentino as a long evening dress tied with a leather belt and at Jean Paul Gaultier, Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad used alongside an ombre technique for a more glamorous effect.

From left: Models from Armani Prive, Vionnet, Chanel & Alexandre Vauthier's F/W '14 Haute Couture collections

Haute Couture F/W '14 Trend Report: Ombre looks

A Jean Paul Gaultier gown from the F/W '14
Haute Couture collection illustrated by me

Over the last year we've all been witnesses of the 'ombre trend' that took the world of hair styling by storm. An endless number of girls would step out of beauty salons each day, working a newly colored 'do that usually goes from brown to extremely light blonde tips. Well guess what - the ombre technique isn't just for your hair anymore!

There were several successful attempts at ombre featured in last season's collections - most notably Burberry's Resort '15 garments that went from darker blues to white and then back again - but these color transitioning clothes were all over the couture shows from this week.

It all started at Atelier Versace, the first show on the Haute Couture schedule, where Donatella introduced an extremely luxurious version of the ombre trend by pairing gradient spark-ling turtlenecks in blue, purple and black with provocatively cut leather skirts that took the attendees' breath away.

The ombre then took a full swing at Giambattista Valli in the form of grand ballgowns which were actually consisted of ruf-fled tulle skirts and boyish shirt tops, while also appearing on Schiaparelli's runway where the new creative director Marco Zanini showed us how to subtly do gradient by using it on a pink 'Frankenstein' coat. Other notable mentions are Leba-nese designers Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad who as per de-cided to embroider their feminine ombre dresses to death and Russian socialite-cum-designer Ulyana Sergeenko who used the technique on heavy fur and mohair coats.

From left: Atelier Versace, Giambattista Valli, Elie Saab and Schiaparelli's F/W '14 Haute Couture collections