Christian Dior Couture S/S11

John Galliano’s inspiration in this collection was the illustrator René Gruau who was so influential for Christian Dior when he worked there in the forties and fifties. Galliano is also an illustrator by training and described trying to reference this stylised form of drawing in the fabric and cut of couture as his ‘most technically challenging’ collection yet. The effect is dazzling. You can really see the representation of pencil lines, shading, smudging and outlining. I specially like the lovely change of tones through the individual items. It represents luxury beyond imagining: starlets with not a care in the world except where the next martini is coming from, women made for the arms of Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart. The allure is sexy but oh so subtle, with very little flesh showing but just enough, all beautifully hidden beneath swathes of cloth and somehow you just know the undergarments would be just as complex.

Source: Style.com