Pen Style: Ziad Nakad Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020 Show Review

Dear Pennies & Pens,

In this post, Pen Style: Ziad Nakad Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020, I’ll be reviewing the brand’s latest collection. For those that don’t know, Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week took place January 20 – 23, 2020 in Paris. 

If you’ve been following de la Pen…All Pen Everything since our humble beginnings in 2010, you know that this was originally a fashion blog. I covered New York Fashion Week from 2010-2013 for both the Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer shows in addition to Style.uz Art Week in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I’ve also featured Copenhagen Fashion Week. 

What is Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week? 

Well first let’s define Haute Couture. As it states on Wikipedia, “Haute couture is high-end fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high-quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers—often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.”

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week takes place in January and July. There are only about 100 designers that are members of the The Fédération because of the rigorous requirements membership requires. In essence, there are a lot of designers who show during haute couture fashion week and Paris Fashion Week who are not members of The Fédération but they are still extremely talented artists whose work deserves to be celebrated. 

That being said, Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week features couture designers from around the world showcasing their collections. The official Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week is organized by The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. The Fédération also organizes Paris Fashion Week Women’s and Men’s aka the ready to wear collections for women and men. 

Who is Ziad Nakad? 

Born of Lebanese descent, Nakad has always loved fashion. After studying with many famous designers in Beirut, Ziad was invited to show a couture collection at the Beirut International Fashion Show. During that show, he dressed supermodels such as Karen Mudler, Nadja Urman and Jennifer Driver.

As it states on his website: “Celebrated for his ability to reveal the feminine side of every woman, Ziad Nakad is now a design reference in fashion shows in Lebanon, the Middle East, the Gulf, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the world.” 

Ziad Nakad Spring Summer 2020 Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week

The best way to explain the inspiration behind Ziad Nakad’s Spring Summer 2020 collection is to include the press notes. I absolutely adore reading the press notes because it helps me learn more about the collection which means I can create better content. 

Also, I find that many blogs and online magazines don’t include this info. So I want to include this because it’s important to understand the concept and inspiration to truly comprehend the collection. Reading the press notes is the best way to understand the designer’s thought process in creating their work. 

As it states in the press notes, “The idea of Atlantis — the “lost” island subcontinent often idealized as an advanced, utopian society holding wisdom that could bring world peace — has captivated dreamers, occultists and New Agers for generations.

Ziad Nakad imagines, for his Spring Summer 2020 Couture collection, the Modern Day Warrior Princess. The celebration of fierceness, softness, determination, ingenuity and compassion that makes up the Modern Day Warrior Princess is electric and eclectic : tulle, silk and taffeta mixed with organza and chiffon emphasize the mermaid silhouettes.

The Modern Day Warrior Princesses, have been able to play to the strength of being female, to celebrate their femininity, not to shy away from it or downplay it: crystals, beads, feathers, all handmade details, are underlining all shades of blue, water green, sun yellow, peach and gold.

A hymn to sensuality, as fluid as the sea and as bright as the sun.” 

Inkreview: My thoughts on Ziad Nakad Spring Summer 2020 

When I opened the email containing the press release and runway pictures from Ziad’s PR team, I absolutely fell in love with this collection! So much so that I immediately shared a couple of quick screenshots on two of my Instagram accounts @LoudPen and @ISLPDTX. I just couldn’t wait until this blog post was done. 

The Atlantis collection is nothing short of amazing. With a diverse color palette containing spring pastels and bright hues, the gowns were truly stunning. The attention to detail was phenomenal. Even just looking at the photos, you can tell that this collection is the work of talented artisans.

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I’m a tomboy and hardly ever wear dresses. But this collection helped me reconnect with femininity and my “girly side”. It’s just so beautiful and elegant! 

Haute couture and fashion is all about creating something that is unique and original which is exactly what Ziad Nakad did! So bravo on a brilliant collection. I love this collection so much I am doing something I never do which is feature the entire collection in a gallery. Check it out below!

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.