Welcome to a magical and surreal experience of elegance, fun, colours, extravagance, which are all part of the wonderful world of the effervescent Celia Kritharioti the owner of the oldest Greek Fashion house established in Athens in 1906, Welcome to Paris and its Couture shows.

Celia’s designs distinguish her globally her talent and vision reflects in all her creations so when the invite arrived to go to Paris to see the latest Spring Summer collection as part of the Haute Couture shows it was without hesitation that I accepted to go to what is most definitely one of the most glamorous events on the fashion calendar.

The Haute Couture shows are per definition the creation of exclusive custom-fitted outfits Haute couture is the high end of 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 hands. Budget is not relevant so you can expect the unexpected.

On arrival, Paris is covered in snow which makes it even more beautiful and head over to the Palais des Beaux-Arts where the show is taking place and is aptly named Cirque de Couleurs with the circus being a strong theme amongst designers this season for Spring/Summer 2019 expect an astonishing multitude of colours and fantasia.

The show starts with trapeze artists dangling from the sky on silk ropes and rolling down into the crowd, running wild on the catwalk showcasing the first example of Celia’s work, two beautiful pastel coloured sheer silk dresses with masses of floating fabric captivating the crowd. The gowns that followed were just as bewitching and overall resembles a beautiful dream with creations such as a full length long sleeve pink dress made entirely of spiky and edgy sequins which shimmers under the lights creating an Ice like effect or mini dresses delicately embroidered with an umbrella shaped cape entirely covered in soft feathers with a 1960’s feel the collection follows with details of sequins, ruffles, bows, long and short gowns and dash of colours throughout.

The pièce de résistance was the finale dress which was to say the least, quite spectacular a white and pink silk ballgown with a delicate sheer veil which was floating in the air and gently held together by several helium pink and white balloons. The show was spectacular and in the words of Ernest Hemingway “The circus is good for you, it is the only spectacle that while you watch it it gives the quality of a truly happy dream.”

Thank you Celia Kritharioti you made a cold winter afternoon in a snow covered Paris become spring and made my world quite dreamy.