Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week FW 2012: Dior

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week started a few days ago and all I could think of during the past days was what the debut collection of Raf Simons for Dior would look like! The House of Dior has passed through a rough patch after the John Galliano scandal last year, so when Raf Simons was chosen to be the fifth designer of the House everybody had high hopes that Dior would regain its lost glory. Raf Simons had a great past to live up to and the weight on his shoulders was even bigger considering that his debut collection would be an Haute Couture one. 

As the great designer that he is, Raf Simons managed to do the impossible: in just 3 months he created a fabulous collection bringing a modern spirit into the traditional Dior cuts and shapes. He revived the mid-calf full skirts with big pockets and the bar jackets of Dior's 50s period by giving them a more geometrical shape and created very interesting garments by turning mini-ball gowns into tops worn with cigarette trousers. While explaining his historic/modern approach for the collection, Raf Simons said that he "wanted it to be linked to the codes of Christian Dior, but to make it dynamic, modern, energetic". I think he definitely succeeded!

The Dior show was presented in a private House on avenue D'Iéna in Paris and the design of the rooms was thought as an homage to the House's founder. Christian Dior cultivated flowers in his country garden, so the designer decided to line each room of the house with a tapestry of fresh flowers: white orchids, yellow mimosas and blue delphiniums, the colors that would appear on the catwalk during the show. The result was breathtaking! Among my favorite looks are the grey tweed mid-calf dress, the simple strapless silver, pink, blue ad green top paired with black cigarette pants and the ballgowns towards the end of the show, especially the red one in the opening photo and the one with the full skirt with a blue flowers pattern.

The collection was awaited with an enormous sense of anticipation, one could just see that by the number of designers and celebrities attending, everybody was curious to see where Dior was going. To name just a few of the guests: editors such as Emmanuelle Alt or Carine Roitfeld, designers Alber Elbaz, Marc Jacobs, Donatella Versace, Riccardo Tisci or Diane von Furstenberg, celebrities such as Marion Cotillard or Princess Charlene of Monaco.

"I haven't been this excited to see a show in a long time. Today I'm going to

 see something I've never seen before." Emmanuelle Alt, editor-in-chief Vogue Paris

I'll let you judge for yourselves if all the anticipation was worth it:

What do you think about Raf Simon's debut Haute Couture collection for Dior? Did it live up to your expectations? What are your favorite pieces of the collection? Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this turning point in recent fashion history!

Photos: vogue.fr