Still J’adore Dior?

With Raf Simons out of the picture all eyes were on Paris to see what Dior would pull out of the (no doubt expertly made) bag for its spring 2016 couture collection.

The show’s press release stated that the collection was inspired by the heritage of Dior himself and “the spontaneous, relaxed Parisienne”. But the critics were quick to add their own take.

The Guardian‘s Jess Cartner-Morley wrote that while Simons may no longer be at the fashion house, the “modern Dior ideal that he sketched out during his four years is very much still present”. Vogue‘s Suzy Menkes lamented that “there was not much sense of the romanticism of Monsieur Dior himself – nor of the same spirit in the Galliano years”. Meanwhile Tim Blanks’s noted that “the dissection of feminine dress codes” suggested “not Dior, but Prada,” in Business of Fashion.

Interesting, but was the real ‘Parisienne muse’ that inspired this collection Vetements, the super trendy Parisian label run by Demna Gvasalia and a collective of designers? It certainly felt as if its aesthetic hung over the Dior collection (designed by the relatively unknown studio directors Serge Ruffieux, 41, and Lucie Meier, 32, btw). Ironic florals wafted along the catwalk, kooky cuts and oversized silhouettes appeared in abundance, and some of the styling appeared knowingly ‘off’.

Composite image made of a Dior couture spring 2016 catwalk shot and a Vetements Autumn 2015 lookbook shot — Let’s play a game – can you tell which is Dior couture spring 2016 and which is Vetements Autumn 2015?

Maybe Demna’s promotion to creative director of Balenciaga has given Dior the confidence to adopt a similar avant-louch aesthetic. Of course, there is also the great success of St Laurent to consider too. That label’s rock’n’roll shabby-chic look has been walking out if the stores under the direction of Hedi Slimane.

Composite shot of two women, one wearing a loose Dior jacket, the other wearing a loose Vetements coat. — What about these two? Dior or Vetements?

Whether or not this new Dior direction ignites the interest of shoppers remains to be seen. Gucci has famously blossomed in the last 18 months under the stewardship of the previously unknown Alessandro Michele. Then again with the announcement of a new Dior artistic director supposedly slated within the next few months, it could all end up being academic. Interesting times lie ahead…