In convulsive situations, there seem to be no right or wrong decisions. For this reason, with a few days apart, it is possible to read that Armani cancels its Haute Couture and menswear show while Schiaparelli decides to return to the physical event for the first time since the pandemic began.

During these seasons, the firm creatively led by Daniel Roseberry has used lookbooks and digital presentations to show collections that drink from surrealism and that have convinced personalities as different as Lady Gaga, Bella Hadid or Cardi B. Now, the house seems to want return to the more traditional format of the fashion industry during Paris Haute Couture Week, to show the world the spring-summer 2022 collection. You can't lie: expectations are high.

This return and this absence mark a calendar that, otherwise, seems more optimistic than that of past editions, since the number of presentations has doubled (and the number of physical parades, increased considerably compared to the previous). A fact so outstanding that both Chanel and Dior will make two shows each, in order to accommodate the usually huge number of guests without endangering their safety. The firm headed by Virginie Viard is a regular in this system; however, Maria Grazia Chiuri's, not so much.

Added to these big names are other equally popular ones, such as Fendi, Jean Paul Gaultier, Viktor & Rolf, Elie Saab or Valentino, a house that also returns to Paris after several seasons presenting in Italy, Pierpaolo Piccioli's native country. His parades are usually among the most anticipated and applauded by the industry and the general public, and bringing him back to the French capital is a blow that will not go unnoticed.

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Who will not parade is precisely another of the public's favorites: Giambattista Valli. A resounding physical absence in pursuit of safety. The brand has preferred to opt for a digital presentation that even goes beyond the canonical calendar of Haute Couture Week: instead of launching the collection between January 24 and 27, it will do so on the 17th of the same month at five the afternoon.

The feeling of déjà vu that accompanied the Armani announcement made a good part of the industry wonder what would happen to the rest of the firms, and if it would cause a domino effect. At the moment, it seems that this piece has fallen without touching the rest.