Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S 2022 Paris

[CholoChic]

Is this Dior really?
I would be ashamed to cheat my fine costumers.

 

[Yohji]

What's up with that random Decarnin-era Balmain look (an uglier version, of course) that opened the show?

 

[yslforever]

Low-effort comment for a low-effort offering. Next.

 

[jeanclaude]

Mary, darling:

You are mistaken, it´s CD not CK!! You are at Dior, presenting a couture collection during HC week in Paris; you are not at Calvin Klein, closing NYFW circa early 00s!!

 

[Frederic01]

This is quite exquisite to be honest. It's very pure and refined; a collection designed with a focus on the essence of what haute couture is. The simplicity of it and all the beautiful seaming and couture techniques in the daywear pieces is so beautiful.

It's such a shame that this quiet approach to craftsmanship can't be appreciated these days. People expect extravaganza, theatrics and showmanship in the realm of haute couture, but at the very core, Maria Grazia Chiuri's approach is more aligned to what Christian Dior did himself. Dior did a lot of daywear with a focus on subtle details like specific stitching, or padded hips, or slight curves to the garments. His evening dresses were extravagant but still quite conservative realistically.

Galliano's clothes were quite entertaining to watch in terms of theatre but the majority of his work was awfully trashy and vulgar and had little to do with Christian Dior. The cultural insensitivity in his work was astounding too. It is so cringey looking back at themes like: Pocahontas, "Communist" Couture, Les Clochards, China meets Japan, Las Vegas Showgirls, etc. And the collection (S/S 2001) where he sent models holding plastic baby dolls down the runway? So ridiculous, let's be honest.

I digress. It's no wonder that women respond to Chiuri's vision of Dior so enthusiastically. She understands the woman's wardrobe and what the haute couture client wants like no other creative director at Dior in recent years. This collection will sell extraordinarily well. Look at all those daywear suits and coats and the dresses that will be presented as wedding dress options.


VOGUE RUNWAY

 

[Caffeine]

This is quite exquisite to be honest. It's very pure and refined; a collection designed with a focus on the essence of what haute couture is. The simplicity of it and all the beautiful seaming and couture techniques in the daywear pieces is so beautiful.

It's such a shame that this quiet approach to craftsmanship can't be appreciated these days. People expect extravaganza, theatrics and showmanship in the realm of haute couture, but at the very core, Maria Grazia Chiuri's approach is more aligned to what Christian Dior did himself. Dior did a lot of daywear with a focus on subtle details like specific stitching, or padded hips, or slight curves to the garments. His evening dresses were extravagant but still quite conservative realistically.

Galliano's clothes were quite entertaining to watch in terms of theatre but the majority of his work was awfully trashy and vulgar and had little to do with Christian Dior. The cultural insensitivity in his work was astounding too. It is so cringey looking back at themes like: Pocahontas, "Communist" Couture, Les Clochards, China meets Japan, Las Vegas Showgirls, etc. And the collection (S/S 2001) where he sent models holding plastic baby dolls down the runway? So ridiculous, let's be honest.

I digress. It's no wonder that women respond to Chiuri's vision of Dior so enthusiastically. She understands the woman's wardrobe and what the haute couture client wants like no other creative director at Dior in recent years. This collection will sell extraordinarily well. Look at all those daywear suits and coats and the dresses that will be presented as wedding dress options.

View attachment 1196992View attachment 1196991
VOGUE RUNWAY

Why can't they offer these at RTW level (judging from these two pics)?

 

[yslforever]

Why can't they offer these at RTW level (judging from these two pics)?

I think these two are just too plain to attract enough customers to make mass-production worthwhile.
Maybe if they were branded (in that jacquard fabric or any other CD designs).

 

[Frederic01]

Why can't they offer these at RTW level (judging from these two pics)?

It's simple. Good taste does not sell. Or sell as well as bad taste does. LVMH knows that all the logo's and branded items make extraordinary amounts of money because it appeals to that middle class mindset of wanting to show off "status" and "wealth". People like that don't buy Dior because of their appreciation and understanding of the history of Christian Dior and craftsmanship; they buy it because they want to display their wealth.

I'll give you an example. A classic Dior bar jacket, La Veste Bar 30 Montaigne, in ivory silk/wool, sells for 3500€. A puffer jacket with logos and branding all over, made from 100% polyester, sells for 4300€. Which do you think is a top seller at Dior? Sadly it is the latter. Even though it has less construction, less technique, less tailoring, is made from plastic (!), and is made in Italy (rather than finished by hand in France like the bar jacket), it is still more popular. What does that tell you?

The problem is that LVMH/Dior want to make multiple billions every year and so they collaborate with Chiuri on items that will sell in mass quantities. I can tell you right now, branding is not part of her design vocabulary is not something she wants to do. Look at what Chiuri did alongside Pierpaolo at Valentino at the peak of their tenure. They rarely had visible branding and logo's. But alas, Valentino was a much smaller company in terms of revenue, and that could work there. Now that they want to grow in $$ and look at what is happening to the designs: VLTN logos and Valentino branding everywhere on cheap plastic parkas, t-shirts, etc.

Unfortunately that is what fashion is these days. This level of subtlety and refinement could exist in the domain of ready-to-wear, but then it would generate less revenue for LVMH. I don't think Arnault would be too happy about that.

 

[YohjiAddict]

This collection makes the proverbial “watching paint dry”, look absolutely thrilling in comparison…Dior Men might have been a bit too beige but this is actually depressing to watch.

Will this nightmare of poorly fitted, schoolmarm-ish frocks ever end?

 

[Fulton St Critique]

She plays it very safe when it comes to her HC collections. I will say that while I am not overly impressed, I can appreciate the movement of the pieces and the overall class that accompanies these offerings.

Fashionable, hardly, yet there is a certain delight present in the simplicity of it all.

 

[Fulton St Critique]

How is this couture?

Materials used.

 

[chanelh]

That 17,0000 euro Dior menswear embroidered sweater is even more couture than the whole collection

 

[dior_couture1245]

Galliano's clothes were quite entertaining to watch in terms of theatre but the majority of his work was awfully trashy and vulgar and had little to do with Christian Dior. The cultural insensitivity in his work was astounding too. It is so cringey looking back at themes like: Pocahontas, "Communist" Couture, Les Clochards, China meets Japan, Las Vegas Showgirls, etc. And the collection (S/S 2001) where he sent models holding plastic baby dolls down the runway? So ridiculous, let's be honest.

How sad to look at life this way.

 

[Frederic01]

Backstage and Details.


WWD

 

[Lola701]

I don’t hate it…
I must say that in a way it’s a nicely balanced collection. The only thing that doesn’t make me love it is the cast and shoes. For such a feminist, I find her choice in casting quite reductive and passé….

For me, those clothes needed more mature mature girls to express their potential.

For the first time, I can sense the spirit of Dior. So, it’s a pity that it’s not shown on women.

While in find the tailoring unimpressive, I really love the tailleur with the long skirt. It’s fresh and modern. Too bad the Bar jackets are still lacking in padding tho.

The real star here is the eveningwear. Less formulatic, more grown up, more glamorous.

We are still far from the spirit of Dior and while I appreciate the intention behind her work at Dior, there’s a serious lack of sophistication in the allure.

I still don’t know what happened with her hiring. Dior and Valentino are very close in terms spirit. And yet, there’s nothing in her Dior that remind us of what she did at Valentino. I know it was sometimes boring (the same silhouettes) but it was always sophisticated.

 

[Caffeine]

It's simple. Good taste does not sell. Or sell as well as bad taste does. LVMH knows that all the logo's and branded items make extraordinary amounts of money because it appeals to that middle class mindset of wanting to show off "status" and "wealth". People like that don't buy Dior because of their appreciation and understanding of the history of Christian Dior and craftsmanship; they buy it because they want to display their wealth.

I'll give you an example. A classic Dior bar jacket, La Veste Bar 30 Montaigne, in ivory silk/wool, sells for 3500€. A puffer jacket with logos and branding all over, made from 100% polyester, sells for 4300€. Which do you think is a top seller at Dior? Sadly it is the latter. Even though it has less construction, less technique, less tailoring, is made from plastic (!), and is made in Italy (rather than finished by hand in France like the bar jacket), it is still more popular. What does that tell you?

The problem is that LVMH/Dior want to make multiple billions every year and so they collaborate with Chiuri on items that will sell in mass quantities. I can tell you right now, branding is not part of her design vocabulary is not something she wants to do. Look at what Chiuri did alongside Pierpaolo at Valentino at the peak of their tenure. They rarely had visible branding and logo's. But alas, Valentino was a much smaller company in terms of revenue, and that could work there. Now that they want to grow in $$ and look at what is happening to the designs: VLTN logos and Valentino branding everywhere on cheap plastic parkas, t-shirts, etc.

Unfortunately that is what fashion is these days. This level of subtlety and refinement could exist in the domain of ready-to-wear, but then it would generate less revenue for LVMH. I don't think Arnault would be too happy about that.

So interesting. I would totally buy that peacoat (in a darker color)...I own a Bar jacket (and some other classic items) and I really appreciate the construction. btw I'm fairly certain that Balenciaga made similar peacoats back in ~2007 era in their commercial lines.
I guess I'm just an outlier then...the 30 Montaigne line is the only line touchable in the Dior line up now.

 

[Caffeine]

Too bad the Bar jackets are still lacking in padding tho

Do you mind elaborating? Where should the padding be?

 

[Lola701]

Do you mind elaborating? Where should the padding be?

At the waist. Maybe the correct word should be tails. The « Bar » jacket as originally designed by Dior had a natural shoulder and an accentuated waist. After, you can have a more or less defined waist (I love for example the Bar jackets from spring 1999) or even revisit it with padding at the shoulders (Galliano did it in the mid 2000´s).

But MGC’s Bar jackets looks like simple blazers..

I have 2 bar jackets: 1 from RAF and the other from John. The one from John is maybe less defined but the one from RAF (spring 2014), you couldn’t do more Dior than that.

 

[TianCouture]

How sad to look at life this way.

Came here to say this. Dior's MO in 1947 was excess. That's all I have to say. And Tilda at Cannes in that babydoll couture dress. Gotta say that too.

Rather dream when I sleep than have no dream at all.

 

[Caffeine]

got it.

At the waist. Maybe the correct word should be tails. The « Bar » jacket as originally designed by Dior had a natural shoulder and an accentuated waist. After, you can have a more or less defined waist (I love for example the Bar jackets from spring 1999) or even revisit it with padding at the shoulders (Galliano did it in the mid 2000´s).

But MGC’s Bar jackets looks like simple blazers..

I have 2 bar jackets: 1 from RAF and the other from John. The one from John is maybe less defined but the one from RAF (spring 2014), you couldn’t do more Dior than that.

Basically a curvier look like this?Christian Dior Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show
Thank you for explaining