This time Dior’s last season was darker when Raf Simons introduced us to clean cuts and strong hues with a mystifying sense of dark forbidden romance and Gothicism. For summer he’s gone out of the shadow and into the sun.
We’re back in a floral setting again, recalling his first show in 2012 and finding ourselves at the Carrousel de Louvre, with white sheer gloss floor under our toes, surrounded by a sea of blue delphiniums. This time his inspiration digs deep into fashion history, pointing clearly to the Victorian underwear by using organdie cami-knickers as a basis for the collection. The Belgian designer has a clear vision of romance when it comes to his fresh designs as he stated on Dior.com: “I wanted the collection to have a purity to it.” Instead of strength and impact, he tried to underline femininity and sensitivity. The results are scalloped ruffled tops, setting the tone for SS 16 and working as a basis for the whole collection.
From bias cut dresses, in soft and natural silk, to knitwear crop tops – rough and fine fabrics complemented each other. The French fashion house wove masculine shoulders into jackets and parkas. It’s the complexity in technique that makes each garment look feminine and simple. Last season Simons introduced us to PVC boots, inched over the knee, to give the girls a vampish sense of sexuality and power. Now he designed the collection to be more wearable and accessible. By keeping the material, he turned them into simple pointed toe and block heels with ergonomic lines on the sole.
At first, this might sound more like mathematics to our ears but could be a comfortable and chic solution for the days at the office. It’s clear: Raf Simons proved again that simplicity and femininity comes back together in perfect harmony and certainly it makes us want to be a part of it.
