In a week-long display of luxury, Paris Spring Haute Couture Week seems at odds with these financially-challenging times. But nothing – not even a recession – could distract the creative talents of the world’s most revered designers from putting together an awe-inspiring collection of beautiful clothes.

My favorite jewel to watch is the Chanel Haute Couture show, which tends to eclipse itself each year.

In 2009, Chanel managed to sell more couture garments despite the global economic meltdown, while lower total revenues reflected that it sold less elaborate styles. This collection, however, brought back the glitz as Karl Lagerfeld crafted a dazzling array of cocktail dresses in featherweight lace and frothy tulle.

In his 54 couture collection for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld challenged himself to do something he’s never done before. “It’s the first time in my whole career I’ve done a collection without black or navy. There’s not one gold button.”

Largerfeld admitted that working without black had been a challenge, and that his inspiration had come from the ‘electronic flashes I get in my head.’ ‘I saw it in a dream and I made the sketches … at five o’clock in the morning,’ he told reporters.

Models sported Lady GaGa-style hearted bow hairstyles, inspired by Comtesse de Castiglione, in a celebration of all things feminine. The result was a “neon baroque” extravaganza with ruffled pastel confections, mirror-like metallic’s, and a mix of romanticism.

Lagerfeld re-interpreted the classic Chanel tweed suit, appealing to a younger generation of couture customers, by reworking the timeless look with shorts, not skirts, in sherbet shades that are hard to resist.

It was as if Karl was dreaming of the delicate splendor of Laduree macarons with candy colored confections in shades of pistachio, baby pink, acid yellow and pale peach embellished with jeweled details to add sophisticated glamour.

To understand couture and their staggering price-tags is to understand what goes into the garments, which are hand made from start to finish.

Silver sci-fi boots, boasting pearls around the platform sole and intricately sculpted killer heels, took over 30 hours of work by the shoemakers at Massaro, one of the five couture ateliers that Chanel bought in 2002 – they now have six – to ensure their continued survival.

A remarkable petal pink dress and jacket (left) featured over 13,000 satin flowers, each one painstakingly sewn on by hand.

The final wedding gown, with a veil that resembled a fine mist of net, took 1300 hours of work in the atelier, and its cape featured 200 meters of tulle and silk.

A-list celebrities were on hang to gush over the Kaiser’s masterful creations. Alexa Chung, Kanye West, his girlfriend Amber Rose, actress Charlotte Gainsbourg were on hand to see models, such as Lara Stone, model some of Karl Largerfeld’s finest work.

After recently announcing that she is expecting her third baby, supermodel Claudia Schiffer was mobbed by photographers as she tried to enter the venue. The mommy-to-be wore a fabulous Chanel Pre-Fall 2010 oversize tunic, in a brilliant shade of marigold yellow, to camouflage her bulging baby bump. This happens to be one of my favorite colors for spring.

After the Chanel Couture show in Paris, Chanel sent out a release with all the details. This is the level of detail and commitment that goes into a couture collection of such high caliber:

“NEON BAROQUE” COLLECTION
CHANEL, Spring Summer 2010 Haute-Couture

THE COLLECTION

- Fabrics: satin, tweed, lace, chiffon and tulle
- Colors: pastel and acid tones, silver lamé
- Buttons: mercury color, shiny chrome
- Finishings: “Hidden” seams. It takes 3 hours to hand-stitch these seams along one meter of fabric. To make the “hidden seams” of some pieces took 35 hours of work in the atelier.
Silver threads or silver paint on embroidered satin
Silver stucco effect for the baroque touch
Certain dresses are adorned with 80 buttons
Sleeves and hems trimmed with tulle

- Stockings: oily, silver effect
- Hairstyles: “heart” hairstyle
- Music: electronic and synthetic rock recalling the neon lights
- Decor: “Aluminum box”
1000 square meters of aluminum for the floor, benches and columns
Floor: finished with a layer of aluminum
1200 square meters of aluminum colored fabric for the ceiling and walls
25 columns covered with neon tubes (4200 tubes) in mauve, pink, yellow, green and off white
650 meters of chrome colored fabric for the couches
500 people worked on the project

SOME EXAMPLES
- Wedding dress and cape: 1300 hours of work in total
Cape: 200 meters of tulle and silk crèpeline (800 hours of work)
Dress: satin and chiffon (190 hours of work) embroidered by the Maison LESAGE (350 hours of work)
- Look 37, “grenade” cape: 700 hours of work in total
Entirely made by the Maison LEMARIE. Round pieces of pink satin and chiffon sewn one on top of the other.
- Look 22, dress and jacket made of more than 13,000 satin flowers (made by the Maison LESAGE)

MASSARO / SHOEMAKER
- 70 pairs of short platform boots in mercury/bright silver color. More than 30 hours of
work for certain pairs.
- Materials: leather, lizard, python and eel skin
- Heels: “sculpted” or “rock-work” heels

LESAGE / EMBROIDERER

- Collaborated on the making of 12 looks
- Color: mercury/bright silver
- Materials: sequins, crystals, pearls and strass
- Embroideries: on lace, chiffon or satin
- Wedding gown: sequins, pearls and crystals embroidered on the front, sleeves and back of the dress. 350 hours of work in the ateliers of the Maison Lesage.