Pre-Fall 2014 .....Christian Dior

In the reimagining process of the house of Dior Raf Simons is quickly destroying most of the brands DNA and trading it for a much more generic “common design room” type of look. Why on earth   this designer thinks he is the 21^st century incarnation of Monsieur Dior remains a mystery and how on earth LVMH is allowing this in quest of selling another handbag is far beyond my scope of comprehension.

While waiting for the remainder of the slides to appear, my research included learning that all the fabrics were developed especially for the collection and my reaction would be why bother? Just so you can further deepened your mark on the collection is just plain hubris especially when the end result is almost comically banal. The green nylon look fabrication used for that army “flight jacket” coat really doesn’t need any kind of research as the iconography is clear and the end result is amazingly good, it’s just too bad it is Dior. Actually it is far more palatable than most of collection in that it does reflect the vocabulary of the house.

Yes Raf managed to use some tailoring and yes he seemed to utilize some of the older codes of the house but why opt for those which might be confused with Cristobal Balenciaga and not Christian Dior. It is not to say that my belief is that CD was a design god but since no Kool Aid was consumed here, my emphatic belief is neither is Raf Simons. Slapping a flower on some simple Jil’esque silhouette is not exactly revelatory. The platform shoes are boring at this point and the NEW wedge will sell to all the victims but I’m guessing anything that might be construed as chic is out of the question. This last statement will include his take on the handbag which now sports photo images much like the tote many use for the supermarket.

The voluminous shapes  are somewhat boring and the leopard is at least a breath of fun but on the whole this is not exactly a collection that makes one’s heart sing with the glories of Paris Fashion or the glories of Maison Christian Dior. Quel Dommage!!!! Yes, there are some wearable pieces but yet there is nothing here that couldn’t or hasn’t been done by others. While being in that train of thought, who would have thought that Rachel Zoe’s pant lengths are suitable for this brand?

The Dior/Simons collaboration remains a mystery to me and am guessing it will remain so until all the brand recognition will be reduced to CD charms hanging off a handbag and maybe some interpretation of the new look.