The second couture offering by Raf Simons for the house of Dior was a charming bouquet containing the tight buds of spring and the beautiful, full flowers of early summer.
This collection was a far cry from Galliano’s over-sexualised Georgia O’Keefe-style blooms for Dior’s Winter 2010 Couture show, but fashion has ushered in a new era. The desire now is not for aggrandisized statement, it is for clothes that are as beautiful as they are wearable: the immense skills of the atelier are used to this effect here, by head gardener Simons.
The Belgian drew upon his own memories of a childhood garden and mixed them with Mr Dior’s – a Belle Epoque villa in Granville – landscaped as an English park and created a subtle and beautiful collection.
It was a delicate containment as opposed to the joyously, unrestrained rites of spring. Transparent bell-shaped forms carried layers of fine embroidery, tiny flowers trailed over the most delicate of tops and were teamed with the skinniest of trouser. Models were rooted in reality with roughly cropped hair and rose red crystalised lipstick and glided down a modestly topiaried catwalk.
The standout piece was the last exit. A shapely white dress with delicate coral buds that wound their way up to the hip-line, was teamed with a sharply cut jacket: a new bloom built out of both Mr Dior’s and Raf Simon’s aesthetic. One that is sure to thrive.
by Marie-Louise von Haselberg
Images courtesy of style.com
