It was Dior’s first collection since Raf Simons’ departure, shown at the Musée Rodin in Paris Couture Week, Spring 2016. The responsibility for this collection fell into the hands of two longtime head designers at Dior – Serge Ruffieux and Lucie Meier. Undoubtedly, it was a challenging task for the duo and Simons’ influence was still visible in the collection.
Fashionistas and fashion pundits had mixed opinion on Dior’s Spring 2016 Couture collection. Many left with a feeling of something to be desired. The collection lacked Raf Simons’ impeccable tailoring perfection and newness. But it was expected! It’s strange in some ways for there to be so much hype (if not more) about Dior’s collection with no “notable” name behind it. Because everyone likes a name!
I liked the beautiful bar jackets that riffed between off the shoulder, on the shoulder; embellished neck chains that trailed from one side down the body; deconstructed coats to imaginative necklines and fluted cuffs and sleeves.
But the collection wasn’t a big departure from what we saw under Raf’s tenure except that this one was lacking bit of excitement, newness and grandeur we’ve come to expect from Dior Couture shows. The tailoring also felt off.
PS: There is definitely ‘taming down’ of couture fashion. Couture was bit like costume-box-dressing, which is useless in a world where there isn’t much room for costume occasions as it is and where workwear-derived dressing is winning out.