Naveed Hussain has spent some time digesting the magnificence of all that is available for only a privileged few.

Haute Couture has been a tireless subject of debate. While many like to continually point out it’s weak sales across the board and diminishing relevance in society. Although that may be the case, wasn’t it always?

Isn’t couture about that unattainable and highly elusive luxury item we all like to dream of having? Hasn’t globalism made "luxury" too readily attainable?

The nine designers who showed for Haute Couture Fall 2010 clearly understand the craft beautifully. However, there were four contributions whose focus and edit were so precise that we want to take a moment and applaud them.

These designers respectively pay homage to the past with their own distinctive signatures while moving things forward with the kind of youthful gusto couture could thrive on.

John Galliano at Christian Dior, Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli at Valentino seem determined to energize Haute Couture with troves of tasty options. While at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld oddly placed heavy, orthodox, old-world & stuffy misconceptions of couture’s past on the runway. Reverse psychology? Or is it simply sticking to your guns & your clientele?

Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Fall 2010

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Fall 2010

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Fall 2010

Gaultier delivered a fanciful Parisian collection that evoked the wit, luxury, proportion and sex-appeal of two of France’s most provocative 90′s era legends, Thierry Mugler & Claude Montana.

Christian Dior

John Galliano for Chritian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2010

John Galliano for Chritian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2010

At Dior, Galliano hit his stride with decadent takes on his admiration for some of couture’s best, from Poiret to Worth, all in irresistible colorways that were as bodacious as his silhouettes.

Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy Haute Couture fall 2010

Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy Haute Couture fall 2010

Five years later Tisci has almost nothing left to prove at Givenchy. Here, his love of religious Catholic laces combined with a romantic penchant for gothic symbolism made for a breathtaking argument on the exclusivity of beauty.

Valentino

Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino Haute Couture 2010

Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino Haute Couture 2010

Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino Haute Couture 2010

While at Valentino, Chiuri & Piccioli took the house’s heritage of princess dressing into today’s need for clean while addressing couture’s precarious state by placing a sculpted cage over one of their precious exits. — Naveed Hussain, VagabondNYC

_{Photos: VagabondNYC}