I wanted to do a very self-explanatory collection this season,” confesses Christian Dior Artistic Director Raf Simons. “I wanted it to be literally about the season; to be about the very idea of spring.”

Simons’ triumphant translation employed the garden as a metaphor for rebirth, change and growth. “The clothing and the women reflect the passing of time, beginning as the signs of early life and blossoms from the winter ground to the full flower and blooming of midsummer,” says Simons.

This magnificent, multilayered Couture ensemble was Belgian designer Simons’ second for the storied French house. He succeeded in creating striking, innovative looks while simultaneously giving a respectful nod to Dior’s 67-year heritage. According to Simons, “There is a sense of the collection growing and changing from where we started with Couture last season. Yet still always with a sense of continuity and reality for the wearer.”

For his first Couture collection for Dior, he invited California art world darling (and friend) Sterling Ruby to create a Surrealist watercolor print that was splattered across many of his ball gowns. This season the designer looked for a more timeless muse: the flower. In fact, Christian Dior himself was so taken by flowers (a fact Simons stumbled upon while reading the designer’s autobiography on a vacation in Puglia), that he named his first collection “La Ligne Corolle,” in reference to a bloom’s inner petals. The Golden State also provided inspiration for this collection. Many of Simons’ gowns were tributes to flora and fauna indigenous to the state like the California poppy and the Douglas Iris.

The dynamic 46-piece collection began with diaphanous silhouettes, in muted wisteria and lilac, reminiscent of bulbs shooting out from winter’s cold earth. Parades of sharply tailored suits as sleek as a Mapplethorpe orchid stem were followed by more fluid, organic shapes in unexpected chromatic combinations. One exquisite blossom after another bloomed through complex embroidery and exuberant hues of geranium, marigold, gardenia, tiger lily and chrysanthemum. The collection crescendoed with a billowing zinnia shawl draped over a cream bustier, emblazoned with a brilliant bouquet and anchored by tapered cigarette pants. “Silhouettes are in flux this season, seemingly finding their own forms naturally, and yet all expertly tended to and under control,” says Simons.

A heart-stopping formation of exotic wildflower-inspired gowns followed in a blur of gazar, organza, layered tulle, intricate floral appliqué and elegant beading. The ultra feminine collection, “eventually builds to the full flower of the balloon-backed dresses,” says Simons, “whose careful construction belies a seemingly organic shape, with all ultimately controlled by the supreme craft of the atelier.” This craft is perhaps best exemplified by the care and attention to detail with which each look is fashioned. Simons begins his work on the Haute Couture collection in October, three months before he debuts it on the runway, and his couture ateliers (both frou and tailleur) employ 100 people to create the looks.

As Rudyard Kipling famously said, “Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.” As is the gardener, so is the garden.

 

By Genevieve Bahrenburg

Pictured: Embroidered tulle sleeveless jacket and embroidered black tulle bustier with beige silk pants, Photo by Sophie Carre

 

Email This To A Friend