Initial reaction:
Light. Air. Breathe. Raf Simons' proposition for modernized couture takes a spring-stepped leap into the intimate relationship between a couture client and the female “petite mains” in the atelier.
Set:
Some said igloo. Some said traditional Greek clay hut. Someone on Instagram said Gehry meets Gaudi. Turns out a 1950s ceramicist named Valentine Schlegel inspired the curved contoured white space with organic looking skylights cut into the ceiling. What it was, was a perfectly serene sanctuary to allow those aerated silhouettes to move with levity and swiftness.
Stand out looks:
Any that featured what might be the first slip-on trainer seen in a Christian Dior couture show, complete with a flexi bouncy white sole. They were of course beautifully embroidered with beading. Girls in strapless sequined dresses with built in corseting were free to run dem’ crew.
Details:
It’s all about cutwork. Pretty much every ensemble had some sort of intricate slit formation, which cleverly altered the way the fabric moved on the body. The layered cut-out shapes become like metaphorical human layers as Simons cited a woman’s private sphere as inspiration.
Dreamscapes:
Two appliquéd top and skater skirt outfits in white and navy operated as frames around some intriguing dreamscapes. One depicted a figure on a staircase leading to a Garden of Paradise environment. Another showed a woman on top of an imaginary planet. It certainly didn’t look like planet Earth. Women sadly don’t run the world in the harsh realities of our economic and political spheres. But in Simons’ world, they’re liberated, off the ground and elevated - and preferably wearing these contemporary odes to haute couture craftsmanship.
