French fashion house Christian Dior presented their new spring/summer 2015 collection at Paris fashion week spring 2015. Creative director Raf Simmons instigates an exploration of the past combined with ideas of a near future, democratising the traditions of haute couture by taking them into the realm of the pret-a-porter. He stated: In the last haute couture collection and show, I was interested in the process of finding something extremely modern through something very historical; particularly through a juxtaposition of different themes, ” explains Raf Simons. “For this collection I wanted to continue; I thought there was more to explore. By beginning with the ingredients and the form language of the couture, but going further, I wanted the ready-to-wear to feel more modern, more dynamic, more real – I wanted it to be made available to a wider audience. ”
The transposing of traditional technical details is employed at the service of structural form; bodices become skirts, jackets become blouses, smocking and openwork structures, while the construction of footwear is hand knitted. A repeated layering of traditional silk jacquards appears as a purposeful stratification of history, while new ‘micro jacquards’ take the form of a digital grid, resonating with the traditional Dior Canage quilting, itself elaborated on and transformed in the leather goods.
Images: style.com
