Dior show sparkles in restored Paris landmark
Tue Oct 4, 2005 11:17 PM BST
By Kerstin Gehmlich
PARIS (Reuters) - Designer John Galliano used a "nude" theme and a dramatic light show to bring the enormous glass cupola of Paris's Grand Palais back to life on Tuesday after it was closed for works for a decade.
To loud drum beats, models wearing transparent, skin-coloured dresses streamed out from behind a large mirror in Galliano's show for Christian Dior, parading into the giant hall.
The Palais, built for the 1900 world exhibition, has housed major art shows and was used as a hospital and lorry park during the world wars. But its oak foundations had started to rot, and it closed after a bolt fell off its glass ceiling in 1993.
Since then, the 200-metre-long masterpiece has undergone a major facelift and finally opened its doors again last month.
"We are very proud to have this show in the Grand Palais," said Bernard Arnault, chairman of the LVMH luxury goods group to which Dior belongs.
"I'm very excited," he told reporters ahead of the show.
Galliano used the space of the Palais for a dramatic light show and spectators could see the models on the catwalk reflected in the high glass-panelled roof.
He based his ready-to-wear collection on a "nude" theme, sending out the first models in light, transparent dresses, and adding touches of colour as the show progressed.
He combined floating skin-coloured chiffon dresses with leather bands and presented a washed denim jacket with a "nude"-coloured organza skirt. He added bright patches of pink, green and yellow to the final dresses of the show.
"I thought it was fantastic, very dramatic, very sexy," actress Rachel Weisz told Reuters after the show.
"I loved how everything went from nude, or no colour, to lots of colour. My favourite was Galliano himself though. Very sexy," she said, referring to the charismatic designer who took an extended bow on the catwalk flanked by his two bodyguards.
Stars such as American actresses Lucy Liu and Sharon Stone also lined up in the Grand Palais.
Stone, the new face of Dior's Capture Totale beauty line, evoked the history of the house's founder, Christian Dior, who would have been 100 years old this year. He died in 1957.
"Mr. Dior had a vision. He knew what taste was, he knew what style was. And he knew what made a woman pretty. And I don't think that's changed from (then) till now," Stone told a news conference earlier on Tuesday.
"I think when we think about Dior, we think 'pretty'," the star of sultry thriller "Basic Instinct" said.
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