Dior in the flesh
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005
Dior's show was a cultural baptism: of the soaring, glass and steel roof of the Grand Palais, newly restored; of Sharon Stone, with diamonds out-sparkling her smile, as the new face of beauty for the house; and of an exhibition, "Klimt, Schiele, Moser, Kokoschka: Vienna 1900," sponsored by Dior's parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
As "Nuda Veritas," Klimt's sensual fleshy 1999 nude with an aureole of copper hair, greeted guests moving on to the exhibition, the painting seemed like an extension of the Dior show. The designer John Galliano had taken the erotic core of his July couture, with its scissors-and-stitching homage to Christian Dior, and turned it into a buck. Or to put it less crudely, he had transformed his artistic vision of the essence of Dior - the adoration of womanliness and the couture construction - into pretty nude chiffon dresses.
They came out with seams and basting stitches traced with jet beads, patched with black lace or with other embellishment such as logo labels and leather banding. The dresses often bared a lot, but they were also worn under washed leather jackets (nude colored) or the occasional pale coat. Inevitably, the models strode out (as best they could in round-toed, spike-heeled shoes that slithered on the parquet runway) toting the latest squishy, washed leather version of the Dior saddle handbag.
The vivid Peruvian inspirations from July had been reduced to gaucho leather jackets and sunset purples and pinks washing in ombre effect on barely-there evening dresses. The show was pretty, rather lost in the vast space, raked with laser lights, and inevitably lacked the emotion that surrounded the couture celebration of 100 years since Christian Dior's birth.
This calm rendition of approachable, not to say commercial, clothing highlights a problem that faces all couture houses with creative designers. Galliano, in particular, has been criticized in the past for showing bells-and-whistles ready-to-wear shows that were anything but - even if the designer's extraordinary vision and imagination were evident. But this week's show seemed a milk-and-water version of the heady cocktail of couture.
Whereas flesh showing through the transparent underpinnings of Dior's New Look had seemed erotic yet tender, sheer chiffon barely veiling the bosoms, a nude-colored vest with bikini pants or an embroidered swimsuit all looked like a reprise of Galliano's transparent collection of a decade ago that launched the visible bra and lingerie looks on the fashion world.
There were some beautiful pieces with exquisite details, not least the long chiffon gown cascading in gradations of pink to its hem. A big shaded-color organza shirt with washed-leather pants caught a 1980s silhouette and some of the Galliano fire power. But with the pallid palette and in the cavernous space, it was difficult to feel the usual fashion emotion, even if Sharon Stone, referring to her Dior role and to the show, put her enthusiasm into one word: "ecstatic."
....
You're so right. That's all I have to say.
