TWO FACES OF DIOR

No other couture house had have such a "bipolar" approach when it comes to their visual design than house of Dior. After rulling the high fashion past by the leadership of Christian Dior, the house has become a very visual reincarnated and boosted in 1996 when John Galliano stepped to be art director and designer. That was, not mentioning the original Dior era during 1960-es, the trully golden age which finished in 2011. At Galliano´s place came Belgian designer Raf Simons. What is so interesting to me, and this is the theme of this post, is the tremendious differences in their approaches to design.

First of all, let´s take a look at Galliano´s design. It is very decadent, extravagant, full of aesthetic exaggearations but in a brilliant way. He really pushed the visual boundaries and perceptive expactations, making couture more quirky, playful and fun. Lots of bold colors, bold textures as well as bold detailing in  make up and accessorizes, made him the genius of fashion scene at that time. I think is really amazing that Dior gave him such a freedom in visual expression, because Galliano didn´t just make couture he lived it hundred percent, and that could be seen in his design!

John Galliano was forced to step back from design top spot at Dior so Belgian designer Raf Simons took his place. And that was really not so flattering for Mr. Simons, because he needed to stay on the same design level as Galliano. But Raf was known for being a designer which had really totally different approach to couture than Galliano. Choosing low-key Simons after gloriously decadent Galliano was a move which was made on purpose to highlight the simple and pure class elegance for which originally Dior was known about. So Simons´ approach to Dior was very a la "Christian", old school glamour with clean silhouettes, without many exaggerations in visual sense. No more wavy and decadent features, just sleek or opulent lines, very toned and cooled down.

Honestly I think people expected more of Dior during Simons era. Maybe we were spoiled by Galliano´s visual and style gravures, so watching Simons´ show there wasn´t that big WOW effect. To me personally I like when designers are brave in haute couture, when they don´t affraid to experiment, so I miss Galliano era I have to admit it.

Do you like Dior during Galliano or Simons era?

Thank you for attention!

Georgia! xo