Paris Haute Couture: Spring/Summer 2013.

Couture Fashion Week- an opportunity for designers to tap into the most extravagant and outlandish of fashion fantasies kicked off to a great start. Dior and Chanel drew inspiration from the garden with flowers and leaves. Giorgio Armani drew inspiration from Turkey and Jean Paul Gaultier went to Morocco. These are the trends Paris Haute Couture had to offer for Spring/Summer 2013.

Off The Shoulder. Dresses descended like trapeze shapes and columns from bare shoulders for Dior, Georges Hobeika, Maison Martin Margiela and Alexis Mabille.

From L-R: Armani Prive, Elie Saab Christian Dior and Giambattista Valli

Midi Lengths. It was an exploration of midi lengths on elegant and structural dresses for Elie Saab, Giambattista Valli, Armani Prive and Valentino.

From L-R: Armani Prive, Christian Dior, Chanel and Giambattista Valli

Capes. Cascading off shoulders and trailing at the back, long capes gave a modern twist to evening wear at Valentino, Chanel, Bouchra Jarrar and Ulyana Sergeenko.

From L-R: Zuhair Murad, Valentino, Stephane Rolland and Elie Saab

Cropped Pants.  A trend that is still going strong in Paris, cropped pants featured strongly on menswear inspired collections from Christian Dior, Armani Prive, Alexandre Vauthier and Stephane Rolland.

From L-R: Alecandre Vauthier, Armani Prive, Versace Atelier and Georges Chakra

 Embroidery. Exquisite embroidery at Elie Saab, Alexis Mabille, Jean Paul Gaultier and Maison Martin Margiela portrayed flowers and blooms splayed out on dresses, crawling up a sleeve and hugging hemlines on skirts and dresses.

From L-R: Elie Saab, Christian Dior, Armani Prive and Valentino

Embellishment. Gem, sequins and mosaic encrusted dresses had a luminous and glamorous effect at Versace, Zuhair Murad, Elie Saab and Maison Martin Margiela.

From L-R: Versace Atelier, Valentino, Georges Chakra and Elie Saab

Voluminous Bottoms. Giambattista Valli, Chanel, Ulyana Segeenko and Dior gave definition to waists through volume build up at the bottom for the most romantic of ball gowns.

From L-R: Elie Saab, Christian Dior, Giambattista Valli and Armani Prive

Cinched Waists. Nipped and cinched in, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valli and Nicholas Oakwell played up the emphasis on waists with bold and colourful belts.

From L-R: Dany Atrache, Chanel, Alexis Mabille and Jean Paul Gaultier

Lace. Lace transparency sensually skimmed bodies at Valentino, Zuhair Murad, Alexis Mabille and Dior.

From L-R: Elie Saab, Valentino, Stephane Rolland and Alexandre Vauthier

Babydoll Dresses.  Couture brought back to the runway frothy baby doll dresses from Giambattista Valli, Versace Atelier, Elie Saab and Valentino.

From L-R: Valentino, Christophe Josse, Giambattista Valli and Versace Atelier.