The Spring collection from Hermes had a refreshing sensuality to it inspired by the growing pleasures of reconnecting with the world. Many of the looks on the runway played on a consciousness of skin and silhouette. The brand’s obsession with craft came through especially well on a series of chainmail dresses. Well, almost chainmail.

The latticed effect was actually strips of horn sewn with lambskin dots, embroidered and held firmly together by linen threads normally used in the brand’s impeccable bags. True to form, even the choice and finish of the threads is invisible on both the inside and outside faces. That’s attention to detail.

In 1957, Gabrielle Chanel topped her list of revolutions in women’s fashion by introducing the two-tone shoes – an all-occasion black and beige design that’s proved timeless. The originals were produced by the shoemakers at Massaro, a speciality atelier that was acquired by Chanel in 2002 as part of its Paraffection subsidiary to support and protect the esoteric craftsmanship necessary to haute couture.

It was also in 2002 that Karl Lagerfeld began an ongoing collaboration with Massaro, dreaming up versions of the two-tone design in nearly every collection since. For Spring, Chanel has created a dressed-down espadrille interpretation. The beige and black is rendered in denim, and the style has a decidedly more casual look that gives it a new dimension of off-duty chic.

Proving she walked the talk, Gabrielle Chanel was photographed in 1937 on the shoulder of her friend, ballet dancer Serge Lifar, wearing an early version of the two-tone shoes 20 years before their official release.

The Italian maison recently introduced “Hand in Hand”, a grassroots partnership with craftspeople. In its debut edition in the Spring/Summer collection, Silvia Venturini Fendi tapped on the talents and skills of 11 artisans from Italy to create one-of-a-kind Baguette bags, each a numbered edition of 20. One of the more outstanding is by Simona Lannini from the Abruzzo region, who specialises in a lace technique – tombolo aquilano – that has existed since the 1400s.

Its point of difference from other lacework lies in the way the threads, as they are manipulated into the desired pattern (here: olive wood details inspired by bobbins and FF logo inserts), are never cut, sewn or knotted. Instead, over 100 hours are spent creating the intricate pattern in the shape of the bag, which is then starched and left to dry for three days to hold its form.

At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has established a worldliness through the craftsmanship she’s incorporated into her collections. Chiuri has, very importantly, chosen to collaborate closely with local artisans to ensure that these techniques from different world cultures are respected and protected. In its Spring/Summer collection, Dior looked to Bali for ikat, a warp-dyeing technique which originated in Indonesia that produces an impressionistic, wavy effect.

As a sort of cultural dialogue, Chiuri juxtaposed the traditional Indonesian patterns against house signatures like paisley and toile de Jouy – the latter two created using chine a la branche, a warp-dyed silk fabric (very similar to ikat) that was first popularised in 18th-century France. These two distant but clearly related techniques were worked into reversible coats and jackets – quite literally the best of both worlds.

At Tod’s, creative director Walter Chiapponi is steering the brand into more unbuttoned and less serious territory. Chiapponi has been quoted as saying he’s inspired by the Italian idea of buongusto, or good taste. That’s not any sort of stylistic dictum, but a guiding spirit of unstudied chic.

In the Spring collection, the Shirt bag stands out for its quiet but thoughtful perfection. The soft, deconstructed bags are made by large pieces of leather folded and fastened along the centre with sturdy saddle stitches. That means a bag that’s been precisely made and engineered to slouch in exactly the right places for a look of throwaway chic.

The maison typically brings to mind high glamour and arch Parisian style typified by silver screen royalty and actual blue bloods who wore a lot of the shoemaker’s pioneering high-heeled designs. Which is what makes its Vivier Flower Slides such a lovely surprise. The platform sandals – deceptively casual – are actually made in a lustrous satin fabric, hand-embroidered with flower embellishments and painted on the sides of the soles. Gherardo Felloni, the brand’s creative director, drew inspiration from the playfulness of animated films that he grew up with. These, he said, have the power to make you “remain like a child in some way”.

This article first appeared in the January/February 2021 Art & Music Edition of FEMALE