"COAL" FW10 DH Fashion Show: MATURITY and CONFIDENCE

If one can judge about the way a fashion show and a collection have been received by the lenght of the applauses and the enthusiasm of the audience after the show ended,
NO DOUBT, Kriss van Assche, yesterday, met with a HUGE SUCCESS!
3PM, Saturday, January 23, Paris, we still wait for the last VIP to enter under the flashes of the journalists, the show is late...then lights let down and immediatly, at the sound of "Temple of Love" by Sister of Mercy -The Gothic Collection, the first model enters into the all black Arena.

Two half circles filled with coal design the ground, concentric white light circles hang from the high celling. Models begin to rush in a perfect choregraphy, set as a music score, as sliding on half circles runways, imperturbable, just like out of time warriors or angels.

Out of time, because what we see, seems to be an evidence.
It's so natural,fluid, free...out of time....
It seems that it has always been here and will be here for ever, just like a perfect symbiosis between forms and bodies, fabrics and noble materials. Cloths wrap the bodies, never restrain but follow the movement, all seem to be floating into the air.
It's just like it has to be!
It's just so timeless!
A perfect alchimy between gothic and futuristic.
There are tons of innovations, inventions but nothing hurts.

At the beginning of the show, everything is black. Lines are still a bit sharp.

Trousers are more or less slim but always a few inches upper the ankle, revealing black leather derbies or richelieus, showing black socks above.
A leather and metal double belt hangs down on the side, along the tigh.
 
Thin white graphic lines emphise some of the edges like the tie, or the armhole, the shoulder.

Then oversize very long black coats come but seem still to be in competition with shorter black trenches or leather jackets and coats.
The fabrics high level of quality and innovation immediatly catch the attention of the audience.

When a strange black leather camisole appears, remains of ancient codes slowly vanish to enter into mutation of the classic codes.

A blazer dresses itself in another half jacket above.
 

Another shows estonishing mutation of its side fronts falling down to the knees.

Another one loses one of its lapels to be freely belted on side, the other lapel flying above.

 
Then enters the beige/grey colour under the spotlights. Lines are more and more fluid.

Deep wool fabrics are gorgeous. Tailoring is just fantastic. The total lack of lining being the absolute proof of it.




















 
Very long coats float over jackets which one of the lapels has become a scarf around the neck. Fabrics float through the runway.
























Jackets and coats collars overlap each other.

Grey comes darker slowly but inexorably turning back to coal.

Vertical lines into the fabrics rythm and emphase the evenescent silhouettes draped in.







The last shadow disappear at the time where all the models come back for a last lap and KVA to come for a quick run to the center of the arena, a large smile on his lips, apparently happy and relaxed, just like a certitude deep inside of him, a confidence in what he has shown here.
The audience gives the final reason to this general feeling in each of us into a long bunch of applauses.

Confidence is the right word. Kriss van Assche 's work for DIOR HOMME as reached MATURITY.
Kriss has now definitively led the DIOR HOMME fashion line to meet with his own world. Reached from any stess, he has naturally gone on with what he began for the previous SS2010 collection.
Back to true tailoring, gorgeous material and fabrics, organic pattern line, he can now imposes his personnal guideline with no complex. 
This what the audience and the fashion critics all together agreed on this last Saturday.

Especially when looking to the other collections that were shown in Paris at the same time, it appears as a certitude that the DIOR HOMME fashion show was, far ahead, the very best rdéfilé of this weekend.


Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy seems to be lost and searching for salvation into the Christ he uses as a leitmotif in its FW collection, just repeating with tiredness what he brillantly did for his FW 2009 collection...
Rick Owens who always brought innovation into fashion seems to have become very wise this season and doesn't estonish anymore - it's also true that each designer (included Kriss) has drawn into Rick's insparation which makes the Rick Owens new collection, now, almost usual...
Nicolas Guesquières for Balenciaga, certainly for economical reason, is able to show only a shortcut of his new winter collection, certainly very good but so tiny...
John Galliano made once more his extravagant and colourfull show that everybody expected from him, but who can reasonnably wear that kind of clothes? He is certainly a great artist but hard to follow...

Only Alexander Mc Queen and Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint-Laurent (very nice FW show for both of them) seemed to have found their audience into a fashion week that everyone agrees to say dull, very conformist and with no real true good surprises.

Kriss van Assche who generally shows and experiments one season earlier for his own label the direction he will use for DIOR HOMME the following season (easy to check), did not need this time to use this rule.
As I said previously, away from any stress, sure about his work for DIOR HOMME, he decided to show a very relaxed and simple, sober and all in smoothness collection. He has no more to over challenge as all the bad words and free criticisms he constantly received since he took the head of DIOR HOMME fashion design are now less and less audible.

I have been looking this morning on numerous fashion forums and newspapers in France and rest of world, and everybody seems to agree on the fact the FW2010 DIOR HOMME Fashion show is a true huge success.

Of course, this review is my opinion, and only my opinion, and I am quite sure some of you won't agree. But my purpose, here, was mainly to bring to the forum a report of what I had the chance to be part of and to share it with you.  Hope it helped... 

Jan 24, '10 11:03 AM

DIOR: And the Winner is...PART 2 : " A sting of the tail" ! (who to succeed to John Galliano?)

 

"the little hands of Dior studio crew"

- All what you see is NOT what you see,

  All what you hear is not what it is supposed to be!

  Don't beleive your eyes or even your brain, this is only " a Sting of  the Tail"! -

We are Friday, March 4, 2.30pm, and this is in fact what Mr Sydney Toledano, director of "Christian Dior" comes and tells us on the front stage of the new Dior défilé for ready to wear AW11/12...

Mr Toledano is a magician, he must be "in reality" the new Dior designer, the One who can dress the Truth in another truth, better than anybody else:
Dior studio crew has designed by itself the new collection,
and if it can remind you someone's unique style and design,
Don't beleive it, this is not Dior truth, so not the truth,
The true Truth is that J... G....... has never existed,
How did you say? JG? Never heard about him.....

Extract of Mr Toledano's speech:
" ...Because the heart of the Dior Fashion House, this heart, this beating hurt, the one we don't see, is the studio crue and the ateliers. All those "little hands" who hold high , day after day, without counting their time, Mr Christian Dior's value and vision. Those "little hands" have today a haeavy heart. What you are going to see now is the result of their immense work."

  

"not even a word about John Galliano on Dior aknowledgements for the AW11/12 collection and show"

As previously reminded PART 1 (  http://birdy-diorhomme-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/dior-and-winner-is-who-to-succeed-to.html ) it is really very estonishing the ultra-speed with which Dior and LVMH took the decision to dismiss John as if everything was already pre-organized before. Just like if it was a secret desire for the luxury brand to divorce from its star designer, only waiting for the right occasion to do it.

The John Galliano's contract with the fashion house was ending at the end of the year but some inside of Dior whispered that the designer was more and more absent from the studios, that John's health was worst and worst, inclined to a deep depression since his assistant and friend's death Steven Robinson but also under different heavy addictions... One told as well that Mr Bernard Arnaud, who was so proud of John as the Dior designer for the last 15 years, was more and more upset against John's attitude...

We also have to understand that the head management of LVMH was recently very embarassed after the words of the perfume creator Jean-Paul Guerlain, 73 years old and still consultant for the perfume brand "Guerlain" (another brand belonging to LVMH). 

Even if Jean-Paul Guerlain has now been pushed out of "Guerlain", Bernard Arnaud and LVMH have been very much criticized to have kept silence for several long days before having condemned the unfortunate racist and innapropriate words of the old man about "nigers" during the mid-day news at the french television.

This bad experience could also explain why Bernard Arnaud had to make a quick decision about John Galliano so as not to further tarnish the reputation of the luxury group with a rich clientele extremely sensitive to this kind of talk... Don't forget that LVMH and Christian Dior Group are two major multinational companies which sales results directly affect the stock exchange quotations and so the life and evolution of these groups into a fight to death lead between the worlwide luxury brands...

For myself, I think both hypothesis are true together at the same time.

But it seems to me that there could have been other ways to manage this unfortunate affair.

Ways of elegancy which could have been more appropriate for a luxury group.

For sure, I certainly don't support John controversial and inappropriate views and attitude into this sad story and I also can understand Dior which was whatever obliged to react.

BUT, further than the decision itself, I totally disagree with the way Dior is now disguising the Truth, just forgetting fifteen years of its history (and of its success) in totally crossing off its memory a such super creator as John Galliano with all the superb work he did for Dior during all this years.

I do respect Mr Sydney Toledano, he is a very nice and elegant person, honest as well, but I can't accept he can resolve himself, even if he has been told to, to deny to John Galliano the fatherhood of the Dior AW11/12 "ready to wear" collection in presenting it as the result of the wonderful work of the "little hands" of the Dior studio crew.

Of course, Dior has maybe the best "little hands" of the world and their huge savoir-faire is really unique (I know several of them and I can testify myself their talent is incommensurable) but this only the designer who involves the Creation, the strenght, the Sacred Fire!

John is certainly suffering a lot for a certain time now but he must be even more destroyed today, so my best wishes are going to him at this moment. 

I wish he could fast recover.

Jean-Paul Gaultier just declared he can not beleive John could be a racist. He explained that everything in John's work is an evidence he can not be a racist. Many other voices of professionals into the fashion word confirm now that John is the opposite of a racist.

Whatever, unfortunately, what has been said, has been said... and worst, in front of a camera.

This has given opportunities to the medias ans to some undelicate persons to take advantage of this case to make a field day...

Fashion world is a very merciless word and I can't forget the Great Alexander Mcqueen who committed suicide last year ( I am so sad about loosing Alexander, one of rare genius), Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, Christophe Decarnin and many other so talentuous fashion designers who also suffered their turn... and we can't forget the so many famous models who also suffered the same depression which broke their life...

Fashion is a creative but so destructive word!

Again, if I can not excuse the words, I can understand the heath disease, I am so sorry about it.

BUT no way, this can't help me to restore the TRUTH:

"What you are going to see, is what IT IS,

I mean, 

DIOR AW11/12 "ready to wear" collection and défilé by JOHN GALLIANO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And if you allow me, I would use some photoshop to restore a piece of Truth ! 

 Mr John Galliano at his historical place!

My apologizes to Dior for my own "Sting of the Tail" - with a bit of humour and tragedy!

Birdytg