“What is modern?” is what Raf Simons asked himself as he worked on his spring 2015 Christian Dior prêt-à-porter collection. While it’s not the most original question to be mulling over one would hope that every designer has that on his or her mind what makes the difference here is that Simons is capable of fresh, compelling, and oftentimes very beautiful answers to that query.
My Photo direct from DIOR S/S '15 presentation via @andreajankofficial
My photo direct from DIOR S/S '15 presentation via @andreajankofficial
My photo direct from DIOR S/S '15 presentation via @andreajankofficial
In fact, one could argue that Simons’s time at the house of Dior has been spent asking all the right questions. You could add “What does haute couture need to be?,” “What’s global?,” and perhaps the one he wrestles with most: “How do women want to be seen today?” Simons, a designer who gives equal weight to intellectual process and emotional resonance, riffed on his splendid couture of this past July, a fusion of eighteenth-century robe à la Française (think John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons) and a Kubrickian space odyssey, in response to identify his notion of modernity. It was the future projected through the prism of the past. Just in case that idea needed reinforcing, the Dior show was held in a mirrored box that endlessly reflected the ornate grandeur of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée.
If this sounds weighty in concept and execution, it wasn’t. It simply became a starting point to send the Dior ateliers into hyperdrive, fusing historical romanticism rounded sleeves on billowing shirttails–hemmed chemises, paniered skirts whose birdcage volumes contrasted starkly with the gleaming white tanks they were worn with a design language that’s redolent of the present day; consider that the second-skin sculpted-heel boots, to the ankle or knee, came in a stretch mesh akin to Nike’s Flyknit. Elsewhere, he quoted the absolutely impeccable tailoring of his couture. There were exquisite leather coats, their narrow shoulders and slim bodies falling into full skirts, a silhouette amplified by the placement of belts that cinched above the natural waistline, while embroidered silk and jacquard bomber jackets were worn with perfectly cut trousers. So in the end, did Simons answer the question he posed to himself? Yes. Let’s just say the evening finale, which brought together embroidered frock coats and long vests over board shorts, gave us a glimpse of nowness we didn’t realize existed until we saw it.
Discover the DIOR Spring/Summer 2015 runway show at the end of this post!
LoL, Andrea
Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories
Photo Credit / Source: VOGUE
Candid: Photo by Kevin Tachman
Runway: Photos by Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages
Instagram: Photos by ANDREA JANKE @andreajankeofficial
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'The new 'New Look' by DIOR Fall/Winter 2014/15'
Some of the themes that Raf Simons has been busy exploring these past few years have centered around women and power, negotiating femininity in a masculine world, and gender and the domestic environment. That’s all pretty theoretical-sounding, maybe better suited to a doctorate than to a runway show. Of course, as Simons has ably shown, pondering those concepts has led him to create some absolutely dazzling fashion, and none more so than with his phenomenal fall 2014 Prêt-à-Porter collection for Dior.
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