The space-age setting, the gothic makeup and the overall youthful and refreshing turn on the brand's signature designs, the Dior a/w16 show has given us a lot to talk about. Here’s looking back at the top three moments from last night’s show.
By Aishwarya Tyagi
The Collection
Studio directors Serge Ruffieux and Lucie Meier took a youthful turn in their designs and prints, making the autumn/winter 16 collections their most experimental piece of work yet. Raf Simons, the former leading visionary at Dior left behind his mark in modern aesthetics, which was visible in Ruffieux and Meier’s integrated colour and considerable decorative flourish as seen on fluid printed dresses, while the show opened with black and blue outfits including outerwear with embroidered jackets and skirts, coloured with high-collared yellow and pink shirts and two-tone heeled tie-up ankle boots, a camel cashmere coat that draped at the neck in a mix of fabrics along with some bold, unfussy embroideries making an appearance on the runway. The evening offered some outstanding looks with bare shoulders with a hint of exotic intricacies.
The Makeup
The dramatic lips and powerful hair and clumpy lashes narrated a story of feminine confidence through its many contradictions — an idea conceived by Dior’s makeup artist Peter Philips. This season’s collection is all about mixed prints with patterns and the makeup reflected a similar attitude. “A sophisticated look, with intense, almost dangerous lips on this beautiful, even, alabaster skin, and rebellious clumpy lashes,” was the look he had in mind when decorating models’ lips with an intense purple with black undertones. Guido Palau, expert hairstylist also ran with the idea of contradiction creating a sleek, boyish side part that turned to two symmetrical buns on the back, worn low on the nape of the neck.
The Venue
Outside the Cour Carrée du Louvre under a light rainfall in Paris, the house set up its signature-mirrored installation with a show space inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey in its futuristic tunnel-like catwalk made with mirrored concentric-circlular designs, conceived and executed by the Bureau de Betak, reflecting the show’s theme of avant garde twists on traditions.
