Christian Dior S/S 2007 : Gemma Ward by Craig McDean

[kimair]

from wwd...

"Gemma was body-slamming the whole day," is how John Galliano described the photo shoot for Christian Dior's spring/summer campaign. Australian model Gemma Ward leapt backward repeatedly into a glossy, gray paper backdrop — cushioned with a mattress, mind you.

The ads, slated to break in March fashion magazines, represent the first for Dior by photographer Craig McDean after many years of collaboration with Nick Knight. Galliano said the campaign did not mark a major image shift, describing McDean as a photographer "from the school of Nick Knight, as many of them are."

Galliano characterized the graphics — in which the word Dior is split across two pages — as the most striking new element, recalling a famous quote by Jean Cocteau that the Dior name was blessed as a luxury label because the word is a combination of "Dieu," or God, and "or," or gold.

Galliano said the images — sharply focused and three-dimensional, with handbags and shoes vivid in the foreground — have a luxurious feel and emphasize the details of this season's ready-to-wear, which incorporates such Joan of Arc accents as metal chain inserts and fabric layers articulated into soft armor. "It's where Dior should be today," Galliano said.

Themed "zero gravity," the ads feature hairstyles by Eugène Souleiman and makeup by Lucia Pieroni. The designer noted the shoot in a Paris studio went off without a hitch and Ward, despite the repeated physical jolts, did not complain once and seems to have emerged unscathed.

"I did get a Christmas card from her, so she's all right," Galliano said with a laugh.

 

[miwa]

Wohoo, finally Dior! The pose does seem awkward but I like it nonetheless

 

[testinofan]

Bored no liked thinking Craig change the style but is bored have a nick knight style

 

[kevinnn]

Interesting, but her pose looks awkward. Maybe the other ones will be better.

 

[Mr-Dale]

Falling into a big cushion doesn't allow any topmodel to do much on the spot posing, so I think that her pose is perfect. I really like this ad...very happy that the Jean d'Arc hair wasn't used and that it's not Kate in it!

Thanks for posting!

 

[BerlinRocks]

brianboy is gonna be happy again...
it looks like a mix of V&R, brianboy and KateMoss for AP...

 

[Spike413]

Except for the bag (which kind of throws the look off) and the hair I quite like it. It's very etherial without being all soft-focus and greytones.

 

[Sweet rus]

thank you kimair, I quite like this ad! Can't wait to see more

 

[notmanons]

What makes it so cool is that she basically just fell on the thingy and it was taken with her looking really natural. Im so bad at explaining these kind of things

 

[Mr-Dale]

brianboy is gonna be happy again...
it looks like a mix of V&R, brianboy and KateMoss for AP...

brianboy?

 

[truebluejen]

Looks good

 

[kevinnn]

brianboy?

Annoying blogger that thinks he invented this infamous pose of holding your purse away from you as if it had a STD or something.

If you really must know more: http://www.bryanboy.com

 

[indie]

Ooh I love the ads! Usually Dior is not my cup of tea but the recent ads including this are turning me over. The background is nice

 

[Trista]

Two thumbs WAY down. Don't like the clothes, REALLY don't like Gemma.

 

[GivenchyPrincess]

Well so far it looks like an improvement on the F/W ads, not that that would be hard! I love that dress, too.

Can't wait to see the rest and this one larger.

 

[Spike413]

On second glance, it almost looks like Sleeping Beauty.

 

[jadedomega]

Love, love, love it! I love the soft colors. I can't wait to see more.

 

[TheGlassAngel]

I actually really like it!

 

[ilaughead]

Annoying blogger that thinks he invented this infamous pose of holding your purse away from you as if it had a STD or something.

If you really must know more: http://www.bryanboy.com

Remember, he is a tFS member; be nice!

About the ad: I really do like it. It's really emotionless, like the clothing. (That's a compliment, Galliano was going for that.) But it doesn't really look a lot like Gemma to me. Maybe that's a good thing, given her ubiquity last season?

 

[1karina1]

Scanned by me from UK Elle march 2007!