Alexander Fury is the men's fashion critic of the Financial Times newspaper and the fashion features director of AnOther magazine. He returns to A Different Tweed to discuss being front row at what he describes as the “first big return of physical fashion shows.” That is, the live presentations showcasing the Spring/Summer 2022 men’s ready-to-wear collections and the Autumn/Winter ‘21 couture in Milan, Paris and Venice, respectively.  Alex offers a rare insight to the critically acclaimed debut of Azzedine Alaïa’s creative director, Pieter Mulier, and also the extraordinary reveal of Demna Gvasalia’s inaugural Balenciaga couture collection. This includes details of Gvasalia’s olfactory collaboration with the Norwegian artist, Sissel Tolass.  Alex’s view from Venice includes his thoughts on how Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello and Valentino’s Pier Paolo Piccioli “interacted” with the art world. Amidst all of this, he talks about the sort of Covid-19 protocols he encountered during fashion’s return to “business as usual” plus the reported demise of the glossy magazine “super editor.” His ultimate takeaway? “The couture shows very much sent a message about the resilience of fashion,” he says. “And they sent a message about the kind of joy of fashion, the joy of dressing up. When people ask for a justification for the existence of couture….you know, couture is really about joy, and about exuberance, and creating clothes that can really make people dream. And I think that was a message that you drew away from these shows. Absolutely.” Please rate, review and subscribe to A Different Tweed. Share it with your friends! Thanks for listening.