March 04, 2004 - Paris - "Il se moque de nous," "il se fout de notre gueule," were just a few of the remarks uttered, barely under their breathe, as French fashion editors and stylists exited the Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2004/2005 show on Wednesday.
For those not bright enough to speak French, these two phrases translate as "who does he does he think we are" and "he is laughing in our face." Now, you can bet all the champagne in the LVMH cellars in Reims that no French critic is actually going to write that, but it's a testament to how upset a lot of folks are about the latest collection by John Galliano for Christian Dior.
Not that the show didn't have the usual quotient of spectacle and the odd great fashion look. It was more that the Galliano tricks sometimes just irritate far more than please.
To what did people so violently object? First of all the make-up, which can be beautiful in Dior shows, but today merely succeeded in rendering some of the world's great beauties weird and largely indistinguishable from each other.
The mood was also not helped by threatening chords and flashing neon at the opening, which ill prepared the audience for a collection influenced by Teddy Boy cool and Rock-a-Billy risibility.
As for the clothes themselves, few people could actually imagine a gal going anywhere other than a Dior catwalk in farcically oversized moirŽ wraps, 15-high pink mink collars, XXXX large snakeskin baseball jackets or absurdly bright blue lame suits.
John did send out some cool leopard print dresses, fabulously over the top Art Deco silver earrings and a slew of clever bags in big cat prints, which you know will warm Dior's bottom line.
But overall, this show felt like a far-too-self-confident piece of self-indulgence that had lost its audience well before Galliano took his bow in a deconstructed Teddy Boy houndstooth suit. He, by the way, looked damned good.
Just as the lights went down one New York editor made a wish to a nearby colleague. "We know he (John) can do beautiful clothes. I hope I see some today." But as the lights went up you could tell from their wrinkled brows, that they clearly felt their desire had not been granted.