It’s time for a modern fashion history lesson! Dior Haute Couture 2014-15

Dior-Haute-Couture-Fall-2015

Go ahead, dream a little with Raf Simons’ latest Dior Haute Couture collection…

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week is a great time to gather ideas & inspiration for the next big event in you and yours friends lives. And with Raf Simons trip through fashion history’s most glamorous moments for Fall/Winter 2014-15 highlighting 8 substantial shapes updated with future thinking craftsmanship, consider these some of the most advanced in looks for seasons to come.

MORE: Runway

Sure, we’re talking six-figure price tags (ouch!), but that’s not the point. Like any runway show, think of how you can keep on trend and stand out while referencing whats on the catwalk.

That said, each of the 8 passages boasted seriously cool and covetable ideas, from exaggerated bell shapes as light as a feather to decadent embroideries that you’ve never seen anywhere before. Sharon has a similar white bell shaped skirt from H&M which she wears with simple options just to show you how even top styles have a trickle down effect.  Get inspired!

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In store now at a fraction of the price + far more wearable is the H&M Wide-Cut Denim Skirt
In store now at a fraction of the price + far more wearable is the H&M Wide-Cut Denim Skirt

A note from Sharon: Just last week, I escaped into H&M to avoid a thunderstorm.

What did I find?

A veeery full white denim midi skirt that reminded me of vintage Dior’s New Look meets perfect white denim. Note, it was a week before the haute couture collection was shown in Paris.

I nabbed it but have to admit that I felt a bit like wearing an igloo when I wore it out the first time.  

It really is a matter of what your eye adjusts to, and what you love on first look may take a bit of time to get used to wearing. But, the point is that you can be ahead of the curve without paying a bundle. 
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To begin his tour of fashion history through the ages, Raf Simons opened with voluminous yet ultra light gowns fit for a modern Marie Antoinette
To begin his tour of fashion history through the ages, Raf Simons opened with voluminous yet ultra light gowns fit for a modern Marie Antoinette
Jumpsuits and techno garb gave the outing a modern energy
Jumpsuits and techno garb gave the outing a modern energy
A selection of forever chic maxi coats in classic hues made an impact
A selection of forever chic maxi coats in classic hues made an impact
Beaded Edwardian inspired car coats were compelling
Beaded Edwardian inspired car coats were compelling when paired with basic black
Ultra femme skirting options came in easy shapes
Ultra femme skirting options came in easy shapes
Austere & practical, monochromatic looks were topped off with architectural collars on one passage
Austere & practical, monochromatic looks were topped off with architectural collars in one passage
Beaded floral sheath dresses made a pretty statement
Beaded floral sheath dresses made a pretty statement
Somewhat Grecian beaded gowns at closing
Somewhat Grecian beaded gowns at closing

 In their words…

DIOR Haute Couture

Fall/Winter 2014-15

Providence: looking forwards and backwards to prepare for the future. In the Autumn-Winter collection, Raf Simons, Artistic Director of Christian Dior, instigates an exploration of the past combined with ideas of a near future, to look for what it means to be modern in the contemporary haute couture world today.

“I was interested in the process of finding something extremely modern, through something very historical; particularly through a juxtaposition of different themes,” explains Raf Simons.“The historical inspiration is not the justification of the collection, it isn’t its entire meaning. What I was attracted to was an idea of architectural construction – that is a very Dior attitude – and how the foundations of one era are based on another, how the future is based on the past; that is what I found fascinating.”

Eschewing strict historical accuracy and embracing an amalgamation in the imagination, the collection is nevertheless split into eight distinctly different sections, each a variation on a theme. The historical sprawl of the collection spans influences from the 18th Century onwards; it takes in 18th Century French court attire of both sexes and similarly synthesizes ideas from the uniforms of both cosmonauts and astronauts up until the present day – the astronaut is a symbol of exploration for Simons and flight a recurring leitmotif in the collection.

The theme and variation structure proceeds as follows: Robe a la Française: A variation on traditional dresses of the 18th Century; an amalgam of styles mostly worn with panniers, lightened with new tulle structures. Flight a la Française: Here the flight suit meets the traditional dress; bodices and embroidery transposed at times, zippers and silk taffeta utilized. 1910s Linear: Sinuous, long line coats with an Edwardian origin, travelling through history. Bodice meets Jacket: The transposing of technical details, employed at the service of structural form; bodices become skirts, jackets become blouses, smocking structures. Justacorps and Gilets: Masculine ‘court coats’ of the 18th Century adapted for the feminine form. 1920s Liberated: Loose, ‘flapper’ lines of the twenties reimagined in tour de force embroideries. Collar meets Bar: The Dior archive at its most abstract and geometric; pure volumes and shapes originating from 1950 are elaborated on, highlighting Christian Dior’s architectural purity of form. Techniques, Pleats and Systems: An approach to decoration where tradition and technology combine; traditional piping becomes indivisible from the systems of astronaut suiting.

The collection pushes the couture atelier to the extremes in its utilization of a plethora of traditional techniques and their modified applications. This can entail transferring and transposing technical functions to decoration, embellishment to structure, and the revelation of entirely new methods for the first time. For instance, embroideries can find their origins in 18th Century masculine dress, such as in the ‘court coats’ that are presented, or be made completely new in the shaggy structural form of resin punctuated fringe; covering a ‘neo-flapper’ dress, this new technique is called ‘alien fur’ by the atelier.

“I started to think ‘what is modern’? I wanted to deal with a form language that looks to be almost the opposite of my original inspiration at Dior,” says Raf Simons. “It was an idea of confronting what people now think is an aesthetic that is modern – it felt more modern to go to the far past, not the ‘modernised ‘look of the last decade. The challenge was to bring the attitude of contemporary reality to something very historical; bringing easiness to something that could be perceived as theatrical.It is the attitude that matters.”

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