{"id":198695,"date":"2019-01-21T23:19:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T04:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=198695"},"modified":"2019-01-21T23:22:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T04:22:31","slug":"inside-a-big-top-dior-puts-on-circus-themed-couture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/01\/21\/inside-a-big-top-dior-puts-on-circus-themed-couture\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside a big top, Dior puts on circus-themed couture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Spring-Summer 2019 Haute Couture show from Maria Grazia Chiuri (Photo screengrabbed<\/a>: Dior\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 Dior drew inspiration from the top of the big top for a playful couture show held Monday in Paris, where models inside a circus-style tent walked through a human arch made of moving acrobats.<\/p>\n

The theme seemed to well serve designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has struggled to fly in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

The acrobatics also dovetailed with some of the recent film roles of Dior’s VIP guest, British actress Felicity Jones, who explained all to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Here are some highlights of Monday’s spring-summer 2019 couture collections in Paris.<\/p>\n

DIOR CIRCUS<\/p>\n

Hundreds of vintage light bulbs like the ones used at fairgrounds lit up Dior’s life-sized circus and a giant wooden pole held up the big top. Guests at the show inside the Rodin Museum gardens gawped at the decor.<\/p>\n

Acrobats dressed in the black-and-white costumes of Pierrot, the clown character from French pantomime, entered the stage area on each other’s shoulders to begin the whimsical collection that riffed on the circus theme.<\/p>\n

Dior has had a long history with the big top \u2014 from a famous 1955 photo shoot with elephants in Paris’ Winter Circus to the circus theme picked for one of former designer John Galliano’s most memorable shows.<\/p>\n

And the circus seems to have provided Chiuri, who’s struggled to take off since taking Dior’s creative helm in 2016, the perfect muse to unlock her creativity.<\/p>\n

It was light and fun, without being heavy-handed or overly literal.<\/p>\n

A model in a chic sequined helmet wore a white origami skirt inspired by a clown’s ruff and featuring a slightly dropped waist.<\/p>\n

A clown’s multi-colored costume spawned a fantastic knitted tulle playsuit with a stylish Juliette sleeve \u2014 a shape repeated throughout the 68-look collection.<\/p>\n

Another tulle jumpsuit sported a multi-colored streak in satin bands and dramatically square shoulders.<\/p>\n

It was worn atop a \u201ctattooed\u201d body suit that conjured up images of Victorian-era circus performers, one of many details that gave this collection a historic depth.<\/p>\n

FELICITY JONES ON ACROBATS<\/p>\n

Felicity Jones spoke to the AP from under Dior’s big top and said she coincidentally she had just finished playing an acrobat for a movie called \u201cThe Aeronauts\u201d that reunited with \u201cThe Theory of Everything\u201d co-star Eddie Redmayne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis set is so fitting. It’s obviously in the air,\u201d she said, smiling.<\/p>\n

The feminist edge Chiuri has brought to Dior since becoming the first female designer in house history also mirrored the \u201ckick-ass women\u201d Jones chooses to play, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the biopic \u201cOn the Basis of Sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s a formidable woman. She’s someone who’s changed the face of gender equality in the world, so it was an enormous privilege to be playing her,\u201d Jones added.<\/p>\n

IRIS VAN HERPEN TAKES FLIGHT<\/p>\n

Dutch wunderkind Iris Van Herpen’s couture took flight in the Palais de Beaux Arts in Paris’ chic Left Bank.<\/p>\n

The show evoked winged forms and organic life, and was inspired by visual artist Kim Keever, who drops paint pigment into water.<\/p>\n

The arty setting was an appropriate backdrop for the sculptural creations that seemed to borrow from works housed at the Louvre, located hundreds of meters (yards) away.<\/p>\n

An organic cobalt blue gown featured bare shoulders and a pair of pleated wings that created a highly dramatic dynamic, similar to the Louvre’s famed Hellenistic sculpture, The Winged Victory of Samothrace.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the marbled form of insects \u2014 or perhaps the intricate molecular structures of stones and crystals? \u2014 were reflected in a beautiful series of draped and loosely fitted silk gowns.<\/p>\n

Long Asian sleeves on vivid red and pearly white dresses added elegance and an opportunity to create an interesting trapeze silhouette.<\/p>\n

Van Herpen is a couture poet.<\/p>\n

SCHIAPARELLI IS WHIMSICAL<\/p>\n

Whimsical would be the word to best describe Schiaparelli’s spring-summer couture. Designer Bertrand Guyon presented a fantastical universe of sheeny silks, softly architectural silhouettes and beautiful colours.<\/p>\n

The embellishments and shimmering embroideries on diverse designs were more than a match for the gilded gold of the show venue, Paris’ ornate Garnier Opera House.<\/p>\n

Anachronism and contrast ruled.<\/p>\n

Cowboy boots cut a dramatic style below a medieval mini dress with speckled and billowing Juliette sleeves.<\/p>\n

A 1950s bar jacket and peplum ensemble and contemporary pants sported floral scenes that made it appear the pieces were used as a painter’s canvas.<\/p>\n

And colored feathers that embellished several dresses gave the collection a dreamy quality as they slowly floated by, with the occasional plume falling gently to the ground.<\/p>\n

LANVIN APPOINTS NEW DESIGNER<\/p>\n

Lanvin, the world’s oldest continually running couture house, has suffered creative turbulence and questions about its direction ever since the departure of lauded couturier Alber Elbaz in 2015.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a steady stream of disappointing designers whose collections have prompted lukewarm reviews.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the house named a new creative director: Bruno Sialelli.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a thorough and extensive application process involving an incredible array of talented designers,\u201d Sialelli’s profile was that which embodied best \u201cthis new chapter in the house’s history,\u201d Lanvin said.<\/p>\n

Sialelli was poached from his position as the men’s design director for Loewe.<\/p>\n

He said he aims to bring \u201cemotions through compelling stories\u201d and to define \u201ca modern attitude\u201d while continuing Lanvin’s iconic legacy.<\/p>\n

The French hold a precious place in their hearts and culture for Lanvin, founded in 1889 by female\u00a0fashion\u00a0trailblazer Jeanne Lanvin.<\/p>\n

RALPH AND RUSSO GO FULL-ON RED CARPET<\/p>\n

Red carpet favourites Ralph and Russo unabashedly turned on the Hollywood glitz Monday.<\/p>\n

A thousand-watt showbiz lights at the foot of the runway spelled out the surnames of creative partners Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo, as couture looks spilled out in va-va-voom haute glamour.<\/p>\n

Day wear was reasonably restrained, featuring details such as a snake embellishment across a tight double-breasted jacket in malachite or a circular hat with an oversize rim.<\/p>\n

But for the evening, the house put away its subtlety and got out its tulles, feathers and skin-baring bodices in black, white and neon pink. They will soon likely crop up on a red carpet in the French Riviera.<\/p>\n

Despite being relative\u00a0fashion\u00a0newcomers \u2014 they have already had star clients like Beyonce, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Lopez.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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