Showing posts with label christian dior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christian dior. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Reminiscence: Galliano for Christian Dior #3 - S/S 2008 Haute Couture


S/S 2008 is definitely one of my favorite seasons from Christian Dior haute couture show; how can't it be anyway? Channeling the subtle sensuality and scandal of John Singer Sargent's infamous portrait of society beauty Madame X, the collection was just rolled on along as a visual treat. The colors! The lightness! The embroidery! It was magical. Technicolour treat of ruffles and virtuoso twists of satins, taffetas and lavish embroidery sauntered past on the world's highest heels: it screamed luxe, luxe, luxe! I love it so much that in fact, I just realized I had actually created a post of this collection before. Does it deserve a second post anyway? Hell yeah, absolutely.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Reminiscence: Galliano for Christian Dior #2 - F/W 07.08 Haute Couture


This season John Galliano was influenced by the romantic, drawing on French painters and photographers, Spanish bullfighters and Dior's famous nip-waisted, full-skirted 1947 New Look. The first time around, the New Look spawned post-World War II street protests against the designer's conspicuous use of fabric. Now, 25 meters of silk is a God-given right.

The show began in black and white with a Jean Cocteau pen-and-ink portrait on the bodice of a ball gown, and a white bustier dress swirled into a hand-painted pink rose at the waist. What followed was a color explosion, each look more delightful than the last — a pink trompe l'oeil column dress outlined in brushstrokes, Picasso's harlequin suit done in soft pastels, a fiery crimson dress embroidered in gold like matador's costume.

It was over the top, certainly, but not too much so, a true marriage of Galliano's sense of theater and the house's ladylike elegance.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Reminiscence: Galliano for Christian Dior #1 - S/S 2003 Haute Couture


With John Galliano in charge at Christian Dior, more is most definitely always more. Inspired by his recent travels to China and Japan, the vivid colors and patterns of Chinese costume and Japanese kimonos got transformed into some of the hugest clothes ever invented for Christian Dior S/S 2003 couture show. Weeping, multicolored volumes of fabric that mixed East and West, ancient and modern, were showcased amid appearances from Chinese dancers and circus performers. Models, who were almost completely submerged in cocooning swaths of brocade, taffeta and exploding chiffon flounces, teetered along on vertiginous platforms.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Christian Dior S/S 2008 Couture

Images source: TheCelebrityCity

I remember growing up and following the work of John Galliano, I was always half entranced, half frightened by his models; there was always something alluring and seductive yet dark and sinister about the makeup, the styling, and the stage. And the outfits; it's like whatever the references were, Galliano's vision at Dior was to click on an image from the past and drag it like a screen icon into a new world. The silhouette he created seemed to grow out of a 21st-century body. It was magical.

The spring/summer 2008 couture collection was probably the last collection by Galliano for Dior that still had its magic for me, before the financial crisis came and affected the couture industry greatly. All the acidic colour, the headpieces, the big hair and chunky jewelries gives off a 60's futuristic Pierre Cardin/Paco Robanne vibe which I love. There's a cue of slightly futuristic take on the symbolist art movement with dramatic volumes: cocoon, A-line and souffle-like poufs, even so dramatic that if there were giant roses bursting from the hem of a purple dress, the bodice was sinuous and fitted. A cocktail dress would swell, Poiret-style at the hips, but the rest of the duchess satin would be restrained as a sheath. There's also meticulously executed rich and rare color combination (lime, chartreuse, fuchsia), and exaggerated headpieces in shapes of metallic bowl, flowerpot, and flying-saucer shapes, that created the perfect wardrobe for a modern-day couture clients.


p.s Kate Donnelly from 'From the Desk of...' wants to see how my desk looks like. The site itself is dedicated to a person's work space; it compiles snapshots of working desks from various people of different backgrounds. I found the site's really interesting and also inspiring, and it was quite a delight to see the desk of some creative artists which works I adore, such as KwangHo Lee and Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge, to name a few. Read the full article and interview here.