Christian Dior
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Spring-Summer 2011 – Guests gathered at the Musée Rodin in Paris to watch John Galliano’s haute Couture collection. René Gruau, the illustrator whose work for Christian Dior in the forties and fifties created the iconic imagery, would have been proud for the collection indulged in the era. The cloth and the embroidery were used in an illustrative way to depict pencil strokes, scribbles and graphite smears. Skirts flared from corseted waists or dropped pencil-thin to below the knee from rounded hips. The voluptuous nature of the clothing was created by several layers of tulle to create a depth of dégradé. The illustrated fabric of which Galliano was keen to portray was aided by ostrich feathers that created the image of ink on a ball gown, whilst pencil lines were cumbersome in sequins. The long sleeved dresses captured the sophistication of the 1950’s, as did the jackets with silk puff sleeves and heavy embroidery. The array of colours represented illustrators mixing board ruby reds to ice blues, whilst a white fur coat had a splash of camel paint splattered on the front. Galliano successfully fulfilled what he had set out to do: depict Gruau’s illustrations through the use of fabric.
