Dior S/S 2015: The New «Cone»

Considering that Christian Dior’s most recent financial results showed a 13.4% sales rise to €747m (£560m), in the first six months of last year, we may assume that the designer Raf Simons had free rein to show Monday’s haute couture collection in any Paris venue he chose.

The tent at the Musée Rodin for today’s Dior spring 2015 haute couture show was transformed by mirrored walls and a bilevel mass of white scaffolding that felt a bit like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The effect upon entering was jarring, which also seemed to be the intention of Raf Simons’s collection, a mash-up of various historical references from the ’50s and ’60s taken for a futuristic spin.

One of the best looks was a plastic floral-print cape worn over a crystal-embellished minidress and a floral-tattoo-print bodysuit and paired with high-gloss short boots. Just like the show’s venue, the look was multifaceted, but somehow harmonious all the same. The designer had embellishment and texture firing on all cylinders, resulting most successfully in a couple of short-sleeved minidresses broken up in different colors and prints.

The boldness of the fashion message was echoed in what was notably absent from a collection beamed around the world just as actors and stylists are starting to pick out dresses for Oscar night. Three strapless, full-skirted gowns were the only classic eveningwear pieces in a 55-piece lineup of knitted all-in-ones, full-length latex boots and psychedelic stripes. This was cutting edge, not comfort zone.

Fresh hair pony-tails and light make up for the spring. Dior’s new spring look is refreshing and exhilarating, with light from its palette blending half-tones and bright shades, glimmering pastels and contrasting colour blocks. These cheerful confetti colours can be worn in infinite combinations: vibrant lilac, sparkling poppy and invigorating green blossom alongside a breath of petal white.

Two new products are part of this spring look. Dior show Khôl and Cheek & Lip Glow. The first vibrantly accentuates the eyelid and underlines the lower lashes with precision and intense colour: organic shades of grey, brown, black and blue.  A retractable liner in metallic silver can create fine or broad lines and can be used all over the eyelid as a base, adding intensity to eye shadow in the same way as the pros, or to obtain a perfect smoky eye in a single sweep. Cheek & Lip Glow gives lips and cheeks a subtle and rosy blush.