World-leading fashion house Christian Dior staged its Spring-Summer 2013 Haute Couture show recently in Shanghai, at No.5 on the Bund. It was Dior's first such show in China. The collection, designed by artistic director Raf Simons, truly showcased the concept, quality and essence of Parisian haute couture the brand is famous for.
The history of the Dior is synonymous with the history of haute couture. Mr Dior launched his first Haute Couture Atelier collection in 1947, dedicated to capturing the charm and elegance of women. Every design and every dress illustrates the house's unrelenting commitment to details. Today, the Haute Couture Atelier remains devoted to freeing dreams and realising Mr Dior's desire to achieve sublime beauty and everlasting happiness for women.
For the Spring/Summer 2013 Haute Couture collection, Raf Simons focuses on the flux of the natural world tempered by human control and craftsmanship. The clothing and the women reflect the passing of time of the season, beginning as the signs of early life and blossoms from the winter ground to the full flower and blooming of mid-summer. Much of this sense is achieved through a concentration on the exquisite multi-layered flower embroidery that increases as the collection continues. It eventually builds to the full flower of the balloon-backed dresses, whose careful construction belies a seemingly organic shape, controlled by the supreme craft of the atelier. New fabrications also give a sense of dynamism and life with simple forms combine with complex constructions.
"There is a sense of the collection growing and changing from where we started with the Couture last season," said Raf Simons. "Yet still always with a sense of continuity and reality for the wearer."
For this first Dior Haute Couture show in China, it wasn't just the collection that travelled, the evening's show replicated the salons of the couture house at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. The collection was presented by international as well as Chinese supermodels. Christian Dior's president and chief executive officer Sidney Toledano was present and watched this great event together with 300 distinguished guests including international movie stars and Chinese celebrities such as Zang Ziyi, Shu Qi, Angela Baby and Sun Li.
Dior’s Spring/Summer 2013 Haute Couture collection by artistic director Raf Simons.
