Christian Dior HC S/S 2012 Paris

[TommyGirl]

Suprisingly boring, only few of the gowns were nice. Especially the b/w one on Olga S, that was gorgeous and got me thinking "Now this is couture to me".

 

[Chris_Couture05]

I have to say after watching the video of the collection, its kind of growning on me. I like the simplicity of the styling. I was sick of the over the top hair and make up

 

[Boomer]

^ Yes, as much as everyone acknowledged John's talent, he often veered off into costume; this at least looks almost totally real world and wearable...

 

[JuiceMajor]

come on....this is exactly what john would have done!! nice albeit safe collection!

 

[Marc10]

come on....this is exactly what john would have done!! nice albeit safe collection!

I'm sorry, but John Galliano and "safe" never went on the same sentence.

 

[BibiRose]

I personally like the collection. I think some of the gowns were beautiful (the ones on Melissa and Josephine are my favourites). It's a big improvement comparing to the last few collections.

 

[mikeijames]

with each collection that passes, the more i tend to think that dior might just leave the position of creative director unfilled. none of this stuff strikes me as horribly bad -- like some previous couture outings -- however it just lacks the focus and excitement that a fresh new vision would bring.

 

[blackcherrified]

I guess Bill Gaytten fits the bill as the interim designer for Dior, keeps the label slightly away from the limelight but yet churns out perfect sales figures and maintain the relevance.

These clothes are not exactly boring, but they are definitely safe, perfect for creating good numbers on the yearly report. Now I can understand why Dior is not in a hurry to name a new designer.

Since they have the good numbers, why take the risk and hire any Tom Dick or Harry that might wreck this all...?

 

[Boomer]

^ I agree- I actually liked this very much, why rock the boat if the sales are good?

 

[matryoshkadoll]

I liked some of the pieces, but the rest seems quite safe.

 

[agee]

I'm sorry, but John Galliano and "safe" never went on the same sentence.

It has happened a few times, and the result has been lovely like here, but Galliano deflects from his collections looking safe with drag queen styling.

 

[Boomer]

I will be interested to see the sales figures for this collection, I bet they are sky high! As much as I admired John's skills and talent, I would think a large percentage of many of his couture collections were never sold to anyone- who would (and where would!) you wear them!!?

 

[Stereo_Flo]

by Mark Holgate​

“The idea is iconic Dior, but looked at with an X-ray vision,” Bill Gaytten said early Sunday evening about the Christian Dior spring 2012 haute couture collection he’ll show Monday at the house’s fabled eighth arrondissement address, as a kind of hushed frenzy took over the building. Karlie Kloss, scheduled to wear the opening look, just darted away from her fitting, while the ateliers dealing with flou, tailleur, and what can only be described as la grande nuit (dramatic evening dresses with huge skirts) grabbed their last break of the evening before work slid into the night, some at dîner, while one seated man stretched over his work space got a vigorous back massage. Looking at Dior’s heritage with an X-ray eye means, of course, that Gaytten has been seeing clearly the idea of transparency. In essence, this means that 1947 New Look–era silhouette of a tiny waist, jutting hips, and full skirts rendered in the gauziest and lightest of fabrics—tulle, mesh, net—in black and white, with color (Dior red, deep purple) is gradually seeping into Gaytten’s palette. There is the house’s finely wrought handiwork, too, in the form of embroideries that start faintly, then build and grow as if a sketch was being fully realized; the idea of decoration, said the designer, as “very much a work in progress.” The challenge, of course, is that by stripping away opacity, everything has to be held up to the harsh glare of light before it can be shown. “It’s 
not easy,” Gaytten agreed, laughing. “It demands perfection.”

You can see where I am going with this, can’t you? Work in a state of flux, a forensic eye on everything you create, and the relationship between conceal and reveal; it all marks the current state of the house of Dior, which has been subject to the name game for nearly a year now, with the world guessing as to who is going to permanently replace Galliano. Plenty have been touted. For its part, Dior—and its owner, LVMH—have done nothing but keep a dignified silence over the matter, and just let Gaytten get on with his work. Would that everyone have been so gracious and not contributed to the rumor-mongering that has been going on. Take into account the fact that Dior’s sales have ticked upward in less than a year, too, and perhaps there isn’t the pressure to make a change soon or maybe even ever. Certainly, in Gaytten’s case, he has emerged this season as a perfectly fine keeper of the Dior flame. He didn’t deviate from the house’s heritage as shaped by John Galliano, whose masterly collision of light and air with construction and restriction was extensively riffed on here.

The X-ray idea was evident from the opening look, worn by Karlie Kloss, a white sheer organza coat that looked like Gaytten had belted a cloud with a minimal/clinical black leather, and then proceeded to embroider it with black flowers over its full gauze skirt. From there on, he explored a transparent/opaque, positive/negative, black/white theme through billowing jackets, dresses, full skirts and coats, to a closing series of grand ball dresses, some heavily tiered and concertina-pleated, others fluttering with wispy feathers—all as if putting shadow and light into clothing form. Along the way, he touched on the house’s shade of red, with a finale to end all finales: a dramatically proportioned strapless evening dress on Aymeline Valade. There was also the classic houndstooth worked as an embroidered check on a jacket or pencil skirt. And Gaytten emphasized his stricter, controlled silhouette via the use of faux-tailoring basting stitches. To put this fifties glamour moment across, the models struck the kind of poses they would need to have worked if they’d wanted to convince legendary fashion illustrator (and Dior collaborator) René Gruau to put pen to paper.

In the end, what transpired was a well enough executed show that spoke to what Dior can be by referencing what it once was. Therein lies the rub. With so many creative directors advancing the cause of the role of forward-thinking design in defining their brands—Phoebe Philo at Céline springs to mind, with her cool-girl urbanity, as does Givenchy’s sexed-up tough chic, courtesy of Riccardo Tisci—it feels more important than ever that Dior start pushing into new territory, too, regardless of who’s at the helm. Right now there is a vacancy for pretty, feminine, youthfully elegant clothes drawn for the twenty-first century—and someone should be filling it.

-vogue​

By Tim Blanks​

John Galliano was always mesmerized by the inner workings of haute couture. He devoted shows to it. Standing beside him at Christian Dior for 16 years, it was inevitable that Bill Gaytten would come to share the same preoccupation. Anyway, that's the way it played out in Gaytten's second couture collection for the house. He x-rayed the craftsmanship of the Dior ateliers, and the riveting result was a show that dared to inject an unfinished quality into the most polished fashion arena of them all.

Sheer layers exposed the underlying construction of garments. The black floral designs that were picked out on a flaring white skirt were like an initial guide for a master embroiderer who would fill in the colors later. On one dress, black crocodile scales were randomly picked out in patent. On another, ostrich had been dissected into paillettes of skin, like a body map. On yet another, sequins traced a grid, like a pattern-maker's directives. The mood carried all the way through to evening, where a one-shouldered black gown featured tone-on-tone embroidery and a random splatter of sequins suggesting a naïve effort to add glitz. The same effect was realized a little more fulsomely with a galleon of a dress in Dior gray, its panniers exaggerating the billows of tulle.

There is a school of thought which says that mystery preserves the magic, but Gaytten understands, as did Galliano, that if you reveal the machinery, you can enhance the mystery. That's because you're throwing a spotlight on the intangibles of creativity. It was probably a coincidence, but the choice of pop ingenue Lana Del Rey as the show's musical accompaniment was perfect. She's manufactured, but it detracts not a jot from her plangent allure. Something else to consider: In its charmingly unfinished tentativeness, this felt like the sort of collection a designer might offer if he was laying out a blueprint for the future—this is me, this is what I can do and how I can do it. Curiouser and curiouser, as the decision on the Dior succession continues to dangle like a hanging chad.

-style​

 

[MON]

These are really beautiful pieces BUT this is NOT COUTURE! This is best to be classified as RTW

 

[Street_a_Licious]

i can't believe that NO ONE from the press mentions that this has been already, and not too long ago either

are they getting paid to stay mum?

 

[agee]

Per a comment in a model thread and libertylondongirl.com, the Christian Dior S/S 2012 Haute Couture collection will be shown on the Bund in Shanghai on Saturday, April 14.

From Liberty London Girl's Facebook

“Elegance must be the right combination of Distinction, naturalness, care and simplicity.” Christian Dior An X-ray of Dior savoir faire defines the Spring-Summer 2012 Haute Couture collection. Dior is a house defined by its ateliers, craftsmanship, heritage and elegance. Intricate detail and technical skill are the blueprint for Christian Dior Haute Couture. The collection is informed by photographic opposites creating a luminous work in progress. Jupons are finished with precision as the semi-sheer layers reveal the exactitude and construction behind each creation. Embroidery is mirrored from black to white, white to black, with a restrained colour palette of black, white, and Dior grey accented with red, deep aubergine, nude and lavender. Cutting technique is seen through translucent layers of organdi, plissé and jacquard. Fine thread work padding stitches and semi-embroidered layers reveal the couturier’s precision, handiwork and the artistry of Dior Couture. Christian Dior’s grand ball-gowns are given a contemporary X-ray treatment of inverted negatives and positives using dramatic silhouettes of black shadow with white to create a modern ethereal beauty.

Images

 

[Scotty]

This collection was so unappreciated but these are prettier dresses than what MGC is making.

 

[Lola701]

^^
Beautiful collection indeed but OMG, it is beyond passé even for 2012. Looking back at Galliano's last 3 years + Bill G. you really see how Raf (and god knows how much i didn't like his work at Dior) was such a breath of fresh air for the house.

Dior was really remove from the fashion conversation. And no matter how mediocre MG is at Dior, at least it says something about the world, women and fashion today.

Gaytten is a wonderful dressmaker not a designer.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

^^
Beautiful collection indeed but OMG, it is beyond passé even for 2012. Looking back at Galliano's last 3 years + Bill G. you really see how Raf (and god knows how much i didn't like his work at Dior) was such a breath of fresh air for the house.

Dior was really remove from the fashion conversation. And no matter how mediocre MG is at Dior, at least it says something about the world, women and fashion today.

Gaytten is a wonderful dressmaker not a designer.

His sales said otherwise.

https://fashionista.com/2012/05/sidney-toledano-was-surprised-that-diors-sales-didnt-tank-after-john-galliano-was-fired

It's too early to tell how MG, but I'm curious to see.

 

[Lola701]

^^I was talking about "fashion conversation", not sales. We are not in the 80's and 90's were those big brands depended on designers to make money.

Of course it was a commercial success. It was easy on the eye and very safe. But in terms of fashion, relevance and desirability, it was off. Raf kinda brought it back. People were interested in Dior after a long time.

MG is selling. Her stuff is once again, simple, boring and safe. And the bags introduced by Raf's team are still very successfull.

Her stuff is actually much more relevant in the fashion conversation than what Gaytten and Galliano (in the last few years) did. It's just my opinion.