Presented Monday January 25 in Paris, Christian Dior’s collection at the Spring 2016 Haute Couture Show struck a poised balance between the elegant and the risqué, featuring the house’s “signature lightness of touch and sensual approach to women’s fashion”, in the words of the AFP report covering the much-anticipated show. Staged at the Musée Rodin, the show opened with graceful monochrome ensembles featuring geometric necklines and cutout skirt details, with austere black overcoats flapping open to reveal diaphanous dresses festooned with ostrich feathers. Then came the miniskirts, featuring doodle-style black-and-white sketch motifs and floral panels. The hemlines grew longer, dropping gorgeously to below the knee in an asymmetrical fashion, and skirts teamed with nothing but an open blazer to give the look a raw edge. The designers played with volume, nodding to the current trend for outsized coats with a camel jacket featuring structured sleeves, and a floral midi dress that flared out at the hips before tapering back in along the leg. A midi strapless dress with a stiff ruffled neckline was actually revealed to have full-length sleeves and cold shoulder blouses were given extra structure thanks to the addition of puffball volumes. Frothy hemlines peeked out from underneath sharp outwear for an added dash of fancifulness. The fashion world would now be looking forward to what Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux, credited with the collection, would be bringing forth in the coming years.
