Christian Dior S/S 2016 Paris

[RedSmokeRise]

^ honestly that's been my main complaint about his Dior. It's perfectly fine if Raf's trying to take Dior to this kind of abstract ethereal purity but every show feels like a whole bunch of nothing

 

[Pricciao]

I think it's quite obvious that the figure under Raf's helm is better than Galliano's. Ask yourself honestly, where Galliano's women are? Never grown old 20s flapper girls, how many of they still exist in the 2010s?

 

[TaylorBinque]

Well, at this point it could have been worse. I mean the clothes are not bad at all but there's no charm nor excitement in it.

 

[gossiping]

^For my information, where do you hear complaining about ANY brand outside tfs?

Just curious.

word of mouth, i work for a luxury brand

 

[anlabe32]

Dior has become so extremely boring I'd have a hard time believing he'd be outselling Galliano's with these.

I think he does though. I feel like Dior has never been this popular and talked about. Plus, Raf's clothes are definitely a lot more wearable and thus sellable than Galliano's... ehrr... clothes.

 

[perhydrol]

^But when Galliano was at Dior, there weren't any social media platforms in fashion on the same level as today, they didn't use (insta) it-girls and they didn't pay for covers. They used shows for attracting people's attention. Now Dior has been doing a big brain-washing and saying that Raf is like the second Jesus and his clothes are amazing. That's why you can see his clothes everywhere.

 

[bbofbalenciaga]

I think he does though. I feel like Dior has never been this popular and talked about. Plus, Raf's clothes are definitely a lot more wearable and thus sellable than Galliano's... ehrr... clothes.

My mum knows Galliano but doesnt have any idea of who Raf simons is...

 

[Running River]

I think it's quite obvious that the figure under Raf's helm is better than Galliano's. Ask yourself honestly, where Galliano's women are? Never grown old 20s flapper girls, how many of they still exist in the 2010s?

It's not fair to judge the existence of galliano girls right now, he hasn't prodused anything under his name for a long time. But at those days, me and my friends were saving money to buy a jacket or a dress or a pair of shoes from dior. It was romantic and inspiring and now it's gone.

 

[Creative]

Yeah, I think Dior reached its peak of glory with Galliano. Ferré's or Bohan's eras were both quite dull. But ten years ago everyone dreamed about Dior and was crazy about it... Sales and notoriety were bigger than ever (I remember numbers from Dior), their prefalls and resorts sold like hotcakes... And many people from the industry would name a Dior show among their 5 faves. It was at another whole new level. Like in the fashion Olympus. Galliano was a total idol... But I agree Dior needed a change and Galliano was done with the brand for some years when he was dismissed.

The thing is that right now Dior is like... nothing. You'll find nice garments but you forget about them in a day. There's no substance. And you don't need to make a 'show' à la Galliano; you can be austere yet incredible (Lang for example, or Raf at Jil..).

And it feels like Dior success is all due to marketing. Like Frida's editorial success at Gucci. I don't get a genuine feeling towards his version of Dior in industry insiders, editors... You'll never hear anyone talking about Dior or wanting to buy anything from Dior.

Gucci, YSL, Céline, Vuitton... people crave for those brands. I know nobody who has bought a Dior thing in the last... maybe three years. Yet editors die for the brands I metioned before and even poor girls (editor assitants) save to have something from them. Even they buy ugly Loewe pieces... and the Puzzle bag. Yet Dior... I've seen no shoes or bags from them in my environment.

 

[Running River]

Yeah, I think Dior reached its peak of glory with Galliano. Ferré's or Bohan's eras were both quite dull. But ten years ago everyone dreamed about Dior and was crazy about it... Sales and notoriety were bigger than ever (I remember numbers from Dior), their prefalls and resorts sold like hotcakes... And many people from the industry would name a Dior show among their 5 faves. It was at another whole new level. Like in the fashion Olympus. Galliano was a total idol... But I agree Dior needed a change and Galliano was done with the brand for some years when he was dismissed.

The thing is that right now Dior is like... nothing. You'll find nice garments but you forget about them in a day. There's no substance. And you don't need to make a 'show' à la Galliano; you can be austere yet incredible (Lang for example, or Raf at Jil..).

And it feels like Dior success is all due to marketing. Like Frida's editorial success at Gucci. I don't get a genuine feeling towards his version of Dior in industry insiders, editors... You'll never hear anyone talking about Dior or wanting to buy anything from Dior.

Gucci, YSL, Céline, Vuitton... people crave for those brands. I know nobody who has bought a Dior thing in the last... maybe three years. Yet editors die for the brands I metioned before and even poor girls save to have something from them.

+1 agree with every word

 

[Deleted member 7575]

The joke with all the fashion professionals I know, including extremely high profile writers who have written about the collection publicly and have given it a good review but in private have totally lambasted it, is that everyone hates Raf's Dior but no one can say.

A few writers have publicly scolded the collections. It's usually the ones who aren't involved with the social cliques and politics and the need to be cool that will tell the truth. Or who don't depend on Dior for advertising.


BTW all those it-girls are being paid to the wear the clothes. And they are being paid to come to the show.

Raf's Dior is wasting on the racks. It's not moving. No ones wants it. An LVMH employee told me that business is down to 1/6th of what it was prior to Raf, I am not surprised. Certainly Dior is selling lots of things at the moment, but it's not clothes.

You don't have to believe me. I frankly don't care if you do. Maybe my sources are full of it, maybe they exaggerate, maybe I am lying because I just hate Raf and I want to throw his name through the dirt. The last I heard he's got another job lined up. But the last I heard Riccardo was going to Gucci and he didn't (he was offered, he turned it down, so I heard).

I have nothing to prove to a bunch of strangers. It could all be true, or it could all be lies. Believe what you want.

 

[anlabe32]

@ Creative, You don't? I remember during S/S 2013 when he and Hedi were both debuting at their new positions, everyone was praising Raf and talking sh!t about Hedi. I'm sure the hype has slowed down but I see Dior clothes in a lot of editorials. Question: who do you ever hear industry insiders talk about then?

About Galliano: sure, his clothes were adored in the early 00's because fashion was totally different. But his vision, even at MM, is totally outdated, in a Tom Ford kinda way. It's just not what people want nowadays, the "whole over the top, drag queen" thing. I guess what people do want is nice wearable clothes they can wear during the day but also to a party. Raf provides that.

Besides, name one house that still has substance...? Certainly not Ghesquire at Vuitton. Even though i'm in love with Valentino it's practically all the same nowadays, and Michele at Gucci is just copying what they're doing. Givenchy is commercial as hell. Hedi Slimane is the joke of HF and Wang at Balenciaga is being trashed by everyone on this forum. Lanvin has become stale and so has Chanel and Calvin Klein. Tom Ford is outdated and the Jil Sander brand barely exists anymore. So, apart from Celine and Prada, which BIG fashion house still has substance?

But maybe it's just me. I don't give a sh!t about high fashion clothes so all I desire is pretty clothes, whether it's from Dior or Zara.

 

[Creative]

Actually, I totally agree with you, anlabe32. I adored Galliano but I honestly think his time is over and, like Tom Ford, they belong to another era and have nothing relevant to say anymore.


And yes! At the beggining everyone was excited because Raf was a very talented guy! I (and many people) loved his tenure at Jil. But once he started at Dior... it was disappointing. And people became less and less interested in the brand.

Hedi does a luxury Topshop. We all know it. And I adore Hedi as a person, he's incredible, but his fashion is just not fashion for me. But he has this... magnetism and everything he touches becomes gold. He has a cult and creates very desirable clothes. People really want to buy it. They genuinely think it's cool.

And you are very right about no one having substance anymore. But that doesn't mean Dior doesn't need to have substance either! It is very sad... Ghesquière for Vuitton has been a total flop (in terms of creativity) for me. But he has this cool aura around him too... and a cult, like Hedi has. And people really want to have the UGLY monogram bags again. They are buying them! And the jackets. And the miniskirts. He's creating basics. NG is very smart. And editors actually enjoy Vuitton cause, though very simple, it still has some 'fashion'. Although for me it already got old...


And Mutterlein is beyond right. 99% of the fashion journalists describe the collections, they aren't critics anymore. Suzy Menkes is the best example. But it's better not to speak your mind when it comes to these very important brands and people. You are going to have the same money at the end of the month. They are all very blasé, but behind the lens you'll notice they have a different opinion, and that 'cute' means MEHHH for them.

 

[bbofbalenciaga]

Besides, name one house that still has substance...? Certainly not Ghesquire at Vuitton. Even though i'm in love with Valentino it's practically all the same nowadays, and Michele at Gucci is just copying what they're doing. Givenchy is commercial as hell. Hedi Slimane is the joke of HF and Wang at Balenciaga is being trashed by everyone on this forum. Lanvin has become stale and so has Chanel and Calvin Klein. Tom Ford is outdated and the Jil Sander brand barely exists anymore. So, apart from Celine and Prada, which BIG fashion house still has substance?

What do you mean?????....are you saying that just because nobody is doing anything interesting we should deal with the fact that Dior is (and will be) this boring??

 

[Pricciao]

It's not fair to judge the existence of galliano girls right now, he hasn't prodused anything under his name for a long time. But at those days, me and my friends were saving money to buy a jacket or a dress or a pair of shoes from dior. It was romantic and inspiring and now it's gone.

He reached his peak at 2007, and the general aesthetic changed since streetstyle became a major thing. So I said the 2010s. But what Galliano does is the same thing as always, even now at Margiela. So if he's still at the same position, it won't change much.

 

[dior_couture1245]

Raf's Dior is wasting on the racks. It's not moving. No ones wants it. An LVMH employee told me that business is down to 1/6th of what it was prior to Raf, I am not surprised. Certainly Dior is selling lots of things at the moment, but it's not clothes.

This is not surprising in the slightest. I've popped into the Dior flagship on 57th St several times (and now also the one in Soho) and I honestly can say I've never seen stranger, more bizarre and frankly ugly clothes before. Everything looked tortured! The fabrics were forced to do things they can't do, therefor a lot of pieces looked messy and poor...unattractive embroideries, unattractive colors, very awkward silhouettes...all just bad.

Really the whole environment of the store is strange. There isn't any feeling of brand identity...it looks like a duty free shop with horrible clothes.

 

[frk-frost]

I like the colours and the bags and the jackets are perfection but Idk.. I'm still not very moved and that's, I guess, the feeling Raf's Dior collections will always leave me with. I don't know if his Dior sells or not but I do wonder how long his time there will be. Hopefully the next Dior designer will move me - I just gave up on Raf

 

[thisismyname]

Raf's Dior is wasting on the racks. It's not moving. No ones wants it. An LVMH employee told me that business is down to 1/6th of what it was prior to Raf, I am not surprised. Certainly Dior is selling lots of things at the moment, but it's not clothes.

Personally, whenever I've been in a Dior boutique (in a few different cities along the East Coast of the US), they've always been bustling, with women have been looking through the clothing.

I'll admit this collection is clearly a vision of Raf, rather than pure Dior DNA replicated and regurgitated, but it is both interesting and cute with a lot of wearable pieces and full outfits in there. There are several pieces that I will look for in the stores.

 

[Nymphaea]

Feels like a collection without soul. He was so wonderful at Jil.
The boutique in Paris wasn't busy at all, found the interior and also much items rather kitsch.

 

[Fotoholic24]

Another year, another season... And antoher Dior by Raf thread as the Galliano fans playground. Some comments are so transparent, you can see the real intentions...

Sometimes i wonder if Raf is related to the Kardashians/Jenners...