Remember when the economy was really, really bad, and the couture shows had to try to find a way to modestly fit in? And how, for Christian Dior, this meant moving its show to the low-key maison Dior, where models sometimes didn’t even get bottoms or tops to wear on the runway? Where Tavi’s head bow seemed bigger than any of the gowns that were shown? Well, if you’ve been waiting to forget about all that, you can now: Yesterday’s Dior Couture show, held in a giant tent behind the Musée Rodin in Paris, was “so big,” Cathy Horyn writes for the Times, “you could have run three men’s shows simultaneously.” Designer John Galliano cited illustrator René Gruau as his inspiration for the spring 2011 collection, which included dresses made with five layers of tulle, full-pleated skirts, jackets puffed to cloud-like proportions, and a few dresses with fabric draped from front to back that made the models somewhat resemble flying squirrels. Horyn calls the colors “magical,” but says that Galliano has been more ambitious in the past.
And Now Couture [On the Runway/NYT]
Paris Haute Couture: Christian Dior spring/summer 2011 [Telegraph]
Christian Dior Spring Couture 2011 [WWD]
