What 4 Days of Paris Couture Really Looks Like With Models Adut & Bibi

ADUT wears pale pink silk-chiffon draped bustier gown with an embroidered neckline of wild rose flowers and buds and a Watteau cape, GIAMBATTISTA VALLI HAUTE COUTURE. Suede shoes, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

From Heatwave Chaos to Historic Runways, a Visual Diary of Couture’s Most Fantastical Moments

Armani’s final Privé show. Demna’s feminist farewell at Balenciaga. Schiaparelli’s surreal theatrics.

Adut Akech and Bibi Breslin spent four whirlwind days crisscrossing Paris during Haute Couture Week, slipping between front rows, balancing in sky-high heels, and wandering into late-night haunts.

Here, an insiders’ style diary that captured the magic of the city, the craft of couture and the blur between fantasy and reality. Alongside it, the EE72 team shares some of our favorite Paris spots — where we eat, drink, and unwind. No gatekeeping, promise. But the story doesn’t stop with Adut and Bibi.

Inside the issue, we dive deeper into couture’s craft, the illusions and the obsession behind them.

In a digital world, the real fascination is what AI can’t replicate — crafted by hand, raw and real. As reality blurs with fantasy, the skill and sweat behind these illusions become impossible to ignore. 72’s Fashion Critic Anders Christian Madsen reports, with photography by Sean Thomas and styling by Dena Giannini.

ADUT wears embroidered tulle and shearling jacket and matching pencil skirt, shearling and leather hat, velvet gloves and silver metal shoes with hand-shaped heel, SCHIAPARELLI HAUTE COUTURE. BIBI wears velvet, satin and lambskin bustier, velvet pencil skirt, satin shoes and silver metal shoes, SCHIAPARELLI HAUTE COUTURE

“This is definitely the most entrenched in the archives that I’ve been,” said creative director Daniel Roseberry of pouring over early-days Schiaparelli for inspiration for his couture collection. “I was looking at photography from 1929 in Paris, right before the Germans invaded and that twilight of glamour, and I was thinking about bias-cut dresses; what is the Schiaparelli jacket; and the timelessness of the desaturated black-and-white world.” But, he added in his show notes, “this collection reminds you that looking backwards is nothing if we can’t find something meaningful to bring into our future.” And meaning he brought via trompe l’oeil takes like the monochromatic looks on Adut and Bibi here at the Petit Palais.

I was introduced to Majid as the florist of a friend I admire very much. His work is flower art: the most incredible colours and structures I’ve ever seen. His workshop, Muse Montmartre, is like walking into a dream.

— Anders Christian Madsen, EE72 Fashion Critic

BIBI wears transparent jersey floor-length, sleeveless corseted bustier dress, emerald costume jewelry and leather and Perspex Tabi sandals, MAISON MARGIELA ARTISANAL COLLECTION

Glenn Martens’ Maison Margiela debut consisted of 49 mind-blowing looks, including this nude corseted dress Bibi wears in the amusement park in the Tuilerie Gardens. The jersey fabric is draped to look like walking marble statues, and the collier, made of deadstock emerald costume jewelry, was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor. “At Margiela, our approach to Artisanal couture has never followed traditional codes,” Martens said. “Our work is defined by reimagining the unexpected —what might look like embossed leather is actually treated copy-machine paper. Many pieces are upcycled, deconstructed, and rebuilt through layers of treatment, painting, and transformation.”

I’m obsessed with a generous serving of the chocolate mousse at Chez Janou. And I love the vibes and decor at Le Comptoir Général.

— Alec Maxwell, Chief Visual Officer

BIBI stops Paris traffic on Boulevard Saint-Germain in a raffia-trim top and pencil skirt, IMANE AYISSI COUTURE. Leather gloves, PAULA ROWAN. Ponyskin boots, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

For vintage jewellery hits, try Miller on 233 Rue Saint-Honore, 75001. I once came home with a ‘souvenir’ from here so now it’s strictly window shopping. Never disappoints.

— Sarah Harris, EE72 Editorial Director

Start the night at Palais Garnier and end it at Menergy.

— Stefan Abrahams, EE72 Art Director

A ‘quiet luxury’ (preferably gold leaf) manicure with Elise Khettat at her secret, invitation-only rooftop atelier, Griffe, in the 6th.

— Sarah Harris, EE72 Editorial Director

BIBI wears black feather and crystal-embellished silk velvet gown, silver, metal and faceted-crystal earrings and black ribbon- embellished shoes, GIORGIO ARMANI PRIVÉ

Beyond being an incredible talent who invented a new way for us to dress, Mr. Armani taught me the importance of entrepreneurship and community and believing in your own creativity.

Edward Enninful remembers Giorgio Armani.

“To me, haute couture is the highest expression of those qualities that make humankind so special: imagination and the craftsmanship that brings it to life,” Giorgio Armani said following the Armani haute couture show, which he oversaw but was unable to attend due to poor health. Mr. Armani died on Sept. 4 at the age of 91, leaving behind an incomparable legacy.

This last collection, including the black feather and crystal-embellished silk velvet gown Bibi wears here at Le Duc des Lombards jazz club, “focused on black, imagining long, absolute silhouettes that moved down the runway like lines of ink, shimmering discreetly but never dazzling.”

Photographer SEAN THOMAS at MA+ Group. Stylist DENA GIANNINI at A Creative Partner. Makeup LAURA DOMINIQUE at Liberte. Hair QUENTIN LAFFORGUE at Artlist. Nails LORA DE SOUSA at MA+ Group and SIBEL ALTUN. Casting PIERGIORGIO DEL MORO For DM Casting.
Production 360PM. Photography assistant TERRY BROADBENT. Styling assistants SARA CHAMMAS, PAULINE COLLET. Retouching LAST POST STUDIO. Models ADUT AKECH at Elite, BIBI BRESLIN at Elite.