Théâtre de la Mode. Dior AW20 Couture

July 7, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

Yesterday was the first day of the autumn-winter 2020 haute couture “week”, digitally streamed from Paris due to confinement reasons. To be honest, I had a huge dilemma with it. After seeing all the look-books and pretentious, confusing videos, I felt like everybody would be completely fine with skipping this season entirely – designers the most. Schiaparelli released a look-book featuring Daniel Roseberry’s sketches, just to have a brief moment going on on Instagram. Illustrations are beautiful and all, but the execution of this concept felt completely empty. Olivier Theyskens couldn’t imagine a worse timing with his Azzaro debut – the blurry music video the label released tells nothing about his vision for the brand, and it would be simply best if they postponed it. But the fashion industry seems to still not know that word: “postpone”. Everything must be immediate, even if there’s nothing to show.

Maria Grazia Chiuri‘s Dior collection, clothes-wise, was surprisingly good. And they really, really could just leave it the way it is, a proper look-book photos of mannequins wearing couture and a well-written press release. Unfortunately, the brand decided to start with a visual, where everything went wrong. I’m talking about the film directed by Matteo Gerrone, which I found cheesy in production and, well, so, so ignorant towards current events going on in the world. As if Black Lives Matters never happened, an all white cast without a single model of colour held it all back to the maximum. And having models of colour in a casting is the easiest way for a brand to confront the term “diversity” – something Chiuri used to say was so important to her, with all her “feminist” themes… – and believe it or not, Dior failed with it. Which is sad and frustrating. Ok… lets go back to the collection. The film showed mermaids, nymphs, a live Venus statue and a travelling trunk of dresses (a nod to Théâtre de la Mode, the tour of miniature gowns on dolls in 1945-46 to revive the French fashion industry post-war) exploding into the woods in an Ancient dreamscape, and all that lead us to a collection filled with references of Greek mythology, fairytales and pre-Raphaelite times. Maria Grazia Chiuri name-checked the likes of Lee Miller, Dora Maar, Leonor Fini and Jacqueline Lamba – 20th-century women who are often remembered by history for their beauty or for their famous lovers and husbands, but in fact did important work of their own as artists. With a surrealist twist, that was a line-up of delightful diaphanous gowns and voluminous New Look-inspired coats, all kept in neutral colours. The bondage details in some of the dresses made me think of Man Ray and Lee Miller’s work, were kinky merged into sensual. At some points it all looked overly historical, even theatrical. Not sure if it’s relevant couture, like the one Virginie Viard does at Chanel. But if any sort of MET Gala is coming up in 2020, those dresses will perfectly match the About Time: Fashion and Duration theme.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Raf Simons Departures Dior

October 23, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

When this information hit us all yesterday in the evening, there was a “what has just happened” moment. Raf Simons, both spontaneously and officially, said good-bye to Dior, the Parisian mega-house. Simons has revitalised and modernised the brand throughout the three-year tenure, after John Galliano was fired due to his public, anti-semitic affair. The reason of this sudden change is not that surprising, though – Raf Simons leads his own, eponymous label for men and he has always called his journey at Dior as a “temporary, but beautiful adventure, which really lets him discover the feminine part of fashion“. Observing Simons since his first, haute couture collection in 2012, it was clear from the very first moment that the brand will go through a major refreshment – minimal silhouettes, simple forms and mind-blowing, floral show settings accompanied Raf from the beginning. I can’t say that I am super sad about Raf leaving the brand – I must admit, that some of the collections felt monotonous and exhausting (just like his last, spring-summer 2016 show which was presented three weeks ago). However, up to now I am impressed with his Monaco-based resort 2016, historically influenced autumn-winter 2015 couture and abstract spring-summer 2013 – all of them seem to look far into the future of woman’s wardrobe. Certainly, the time spent by Raf Simons at Dior ultimately defined those three years of fashion – “conceptual design” and “futuristic femininity” fit this period well.

The thing is, the new designer of Dior will be named soon – and I hope, that LVMH won’t elect a designer, who will simply not match the codes of Dior. There are some rumours, that the luxury concern can give Alexander Wang a fair chance to take this place – but please, remind yourself the hard times that Wang spent at Balenciaga – his fashion bored everyone and depressed the owners of the brands due to low ready-to-wear incomes. So guys, leave Wang alone. Also, there are high chances for Phoebe Philo and Riccardo Tisci (her contract will soon end at Celine, while his at Givenchy). I see Philo at Dior, but she matches Celine so perfectly… and Tisci will make Dior a 500-euro-t-shirt brand. Personally, I would give a chance to somebody totally unknown – like Gucci did with Alessandro Michele. Sometimes, the most unexpected choice gives the best results. And coming back to Simons, I am happy for him and his decision – I wish him even more successes in expanding his own, eccentric brand!

Haute Couture AW12

SS13

Haute Couture SS13

AW13

Haute Couture AW13

Resort 2015

SS14

Haute Couture AW14

SS16

Haute Couture AW15

Resort 2016

Haute Couture SS15

Pre-Fall 2015

Haute Couture AW14

Haute Couture SS15

Haute Couture AW15

Raf Simons, the conceptual, Belgian fashion designer.

What’s Hot (27.10.13)

October 27, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

All pieces by Dior that are sold exclusively at Colette.fr

Exotic. Dior SS14

September 28, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Raf Simons showed again in Paris, that less is more. And more is more! In the rythms of Kylie Minouge’s Slow, the models walked the runway decorated with thousands of exotic flowers in beautiful dresses and skirts. But first the amazing venue- the Dior show for Summer 2014 was happening in the Rodin Museum in Paris, with a breath-taking view on Montmatre. In a huge campus, the guests were amazed with the smell of exotic flowers and trees from around the world- the colours and natural sunlight made it even more awesome. Coming back to clothes- well, that was something mesmerizing. The shoes stole my heart- stilettos with laces and embroidered flowers were a mix of sport and couture. Just like the collection itself. Delicate, but sporty sweaters were worn with tulle skirts; the suits were revisted thanks to prints on the back; typical Summer dresses were embroidered with flowers. In other words, it was something very fragile and without pretence.Possibly, this is the most beautiful collection of this Summer season… Bravo, Raf!