February 8, 2019

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand - how about a little eye candy for those cold, frosty, icy, snowy days....and some spring colors too.  The magnificient Dior exhibit at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum in London) has just opened - titled: Designer of Dreams.  This is different than most Dior exhibits, even though Dior was a master innovator of his time....read my blog on more of this.

But this exhibit covers not only Dior, but also the other creative directors of the Dior Maison.  And these aren't too shabby either:
 

• Christian Dior – 1946–1957
• Yves Saint Laurent – 1957–1960
• Marc Bohan – 1960–1989
• Gianfranco Ferré – 1989–1997
• John Galliano – 1997–2011
• Bill Gaytten - 2011-2012
• Raf Simons – 2012–2015
• Serge Ruffieux & Lucie Meier 2015-2016
• Maria Grazia Chiuri – 2016–present

Not too shabby a crew....YSL of course went out on his own and started the "Le Smoking" craze and the "Safari Look" before Ralph Lauren made it a staple. Yes, this is me in my YSL Smoking look!

And another look


This was when YSL introduced Opium Perfume and I love the dress so much I made one for me!  Took hours and hours and hours to do that beading.

Then there was Marc Bohan, who later went on to start his own design house.  He's not so well known today, but he was really noteworthy in the 1980's.

Gianfranco Ferré was another designer who became famous in the 1980's.  Remember this was the Shoulder-Pad 1980's and Franco was known for his impeccable tailoring shown here.

John Galliano - OK this guy is a genius....yes, I know he was fired for his anti-semtic remarks, and even though he was under horrendous pressure, that's no excuse, but he's turned his life around and deserves a chance because he IS a genius. 

This is from his Spring/Summer 2012 (shown in 2011) show and this is the advent of the raised waist, the lovely frilly, feminine look.  This show was as innovative and ground-breaking as was Marc Jacob's 1992 show at Perry Ellis.  Both of these designers were shortly fired after these innovative shows, but for entirely different reasons.  The shows that Galliano did for Dior were some of the most fabulous and innovative since YSL.  He really did take the House of Dior and ran great gangbusters with it.  Unfortunately in the spring of 2012 he was fired.  But these designs live on.








I know you're thinking how can you translate those above designs into something you can wear everyday - and here's the answer.  This was my take on those designs.  This is a lot tamed (course I don't have the fabrics available to me that JG has - hummmm!), but still I did have this bright color and wanted to do something really fun - like a frilly skirt, that wasn't too frilly, and a tapered jacket with a higher waist, but this suit has been eminently wearable for me and I love the color and brightness of it.  It's as much a celebration of bright fun as it is of John Galliano!










 

Bill Gaytten, Serge Ruffieux and Lucie Meier were sort of interludes as things as large French design houses have begun to change.  I talk a little about that change in the blog, however what's the upshot is that many fresh young faces in the design world, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Zac Posen, The Row (aka the Olsen Twins), John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford to name a few, are all starting their own houses or working for much lower profile houses where the pressure isn't so great as it is at Fendi, Gucci, Dior, Balenciaga, Valentino and of course Chanel.  These are all owned by huge conglomerates and the bottom line is pretty much what drives the direction of these companies.  Smaller or individual houses like Zac Posen, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, The Row and even Rodarte work on the basis that some collections are killers and some aren't, and the designers who head these houses, know that and aren't consumed with always being at the very top every year. 

It was this sort of mentality that caused the PTB (powers that be) at Jill Sander (after she retired) to hire Raf Simons then very unceremoniously fire him when Jill said she wanted to come back.  The whole thing was a mess and Jill Sander hasn't been the same since.  Dior hired Raf Simons instantly cause his collections at Sander had been gorgeous.  But he too tired very fast with the constant pressure from the PTB at Dior and quit.

Maria Grazia Chiuri was one half of the duo that took over after Valentino retired at his house.  They put on several good shows, but she has moved to Dior and probably has found a home for a while. 

The V&A show covers all these designers and their interpretations of the Dior look, and I think probably my most favorites are the YSL and Galliano looks that they did for Dior.  YSL really did master the tailored, parred-down look, while Galliano embraced the happy and very carefree designs that brought about the thinking behind the fashion-changing design of the Bar Suit.

Yes, this is over the top, but so full of happiness and joy.

And let's not forget one of the other greats that worked at Dior, but was never creative director....Alexander McQueen, who made a name for himself in his many great designs.  He worked at Savile Row (this is where the wealthiest of men go to have custom English tailored suits, a la James Bond) to learn to tailor, and then worked at Dior to learn to drape.

Draping:                         Tailoring:

A good designer can't design without both skills!

This is all from the House of Dior.  While it's running the hashtag #DesignerofDreams is the key to keeping up with the looks and the show.  The catalog should be scrumptious too.  I'm told that there's a good chance the show will travel - which means it may come to the US which makes it much more accessible for us. 

In the meantime, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook you can follow and search for the #DesignerofDreams to see all the great photos of the show!  The V&A also does an excellent job of keeping a lot of their collections online - more than Dior.  This is a museum creative specifically for art and design - that means US!!!!  Head over there and peruse around (OK, don't kill me cause you'll get stuck in the archives) and have some fun dreaming and getting ideas!

 

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