A lot has been made about the torch being passed at Valentino from the brand’s namesake to his fashion heir apparent Alessandra Facchinetti. The jury was out for awhile about whether she had the chops to actually replace him. He will forever be known as the man that created the necessary red dress. That was his claim to fame and then some. While boxing Valentino into the red dress territory is a bit unfair because his various collections stretched further than a one color, one horse show.

You can’t fight what you’re known for though and he still continues to be the master at creating that red dress. Alessandra Facchinetti may be known as the designer that expands the range of Valentino and breaks the red dress stereotype. Witness the couture show at Paris where she has made a name for creating structural masterpieces. A quick meaningful example of this is the coat you see above. Couture has never been about comfort but this structure is a downright exercise in difficulty. This is not traditional Valentino but naming Facchinetti as head designer after Garavani wasn’t a traditional idea. Where will the line go? Anywhere. And that’s what has folks excited about this new age of Valentino.

While we’re gearing up to go for Berlin Fashion Week photos coming out of Couture Fashion Week in Paris needed to be shared with the rest of the international fashion loving crowd here at iPapier. So here’s a bit of Jean Paul Gaultier in his presentation entitled Positively Encaging (see the last photo to understand why):

It must be great to have millions of dollars to hold a fashion show. Cathy Horyn of the New York Times examines the looks coming out of the haute couture shows in Paris. When one has a million dollars, one can hold a spectacle. Who holds better spectacles than Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel’s haute couture shows. This is a man who had a runway show on a real airport runway in Los Angeles. Doing things small is anathema to Lagerfeld. So when you look at a 75 foot model of an iconic Chanel jacket and it functions as the backdrop for his show. Yes, a backdrop folks. You come to understand what this is all about. Other favorites include the silk organza at the Dior show seen below

Somehow I think this predicts well for the Fall 2008 collections. We’ll have coverage in Paris for the shows.