Minimalism strikes right tone at Dior
Raf Simons presents his first Christian Dior ready-to-wear collection
PARIS— There is much speculation and anticipation here about the fact that two of Paris’s most legendary fashion houses, YSL and Dior are launching new designers at the helm of their ready-to-wear collections.
Raf Simons presented his first Dior ready-to-wear collection on Friday and Hedi Slimane will debut his first collection at Yves Saint Laurent — or rather Saint Laurent as it’s now known, a return to the original name in the 1960s — on Monday night.
Dior has been under the spotlight for a few seasons now since longtime designer John Galliano was removed from his design duties after a drunken anti-Semitic rant at a bar.
His employers at LVMH, which owns Dior, took their time in the search for a successor, finally announcing earlier this year, it would be Raf Simons, who was leaving Jil Sander.
With his debut at Dior, Simons wiped clean any traces of the Galliano era.
Gone are the elaborate runway sets and theatrical makeup.
With a white set with geometric cut-outs, Simons opened his show with a tuxedo look.
Some might take that as a punch aimed right at the house of Saint Laurent — since “le smoking” is often credited as a YSL invention.
The late Saint Laurent was also a supreme colourist — often using unexpected hues together. Here at Dior, Raf also used pink and red together in a long tunic with a slash slit worn over shorts.
It doesn’t matter if this was a mischievous wink at his rival at Saint Laurent.
This collection had Simons clean minimalist signature all over it, while paying reverence to Dior’s legacy. There were full skirts, a nod to the New Look, Dior’s most famous and influential post-war silhouette. Now all of Paris awaits Saint Laurent’s response. dchetty@thestar.ca