Christian Dior A/W Couture Paris 2012

I might be run out of Fashion Town for saying this, but I was distinctly underwhelmed by Raf Simons’s first attempt at Dior Couture. I’m sorry but it’s true.  Read everyone else and they will gush about carrying the heritage into a bright future, but peplums are now in Primark s0 isn’t it time for a fashion leader to give us a new look? True, there was a reference to the old 40s New Look in some of the belted dresses with their midcalf flared skirts, but gone were the extravagant ball dresses, the beautiful billows of flowing fabrics made to look like air, gone the timeless era of Dior and in its place? LBDs, black cropped leg trouser suits, a bizarre furry blue coat thing, fabrics that may be fabulously expensive but look quite ordinary.  And there are curiously small cups on dresses throughout the collection which just look odd. Despite what Vogue might come out and say, Alexander Shulman (editor and chief at British Vogue) on the front row in yellow, looks decidedly underwhelmed too.

Source: Style.com

Giambattista Valli A/W Couture Paris 2012

This was a pretty high concept collection with butterflies over models’ mouths, the heavy twists of gold twigs and netted faces. The volume in the clothes, both in the ruffles and in the skirt shapes, did seem a little heavy for the woodland nymph theme but the beautiful prints and gorgeous colours did much to compensate for this; the moody greens and reds were so evocative of autumn. This week isn’t supposed to be for every day, or even necessarily influence what you will see in September’s Fashion Weeks, it’s for designers to dream and create something that blends art with high fashion.

Source: Style.com