A New Hope

*but seriously this is Star Wars epic status

Raf Simons channels Christian Dior's iconic NEW LOOK for his Dior debut

The drama concludes (or has it just begun?) today, as the highly-anticipated Christian Dior couture debut of Raf Simons is revealed. The bloggers are already going absolutely insane with either high praise or high disapproval, but this review is solely my two cents on Mr. Simons' new collection.

Set in an abandoned mansion with five salons walled with reportedly a million flowers, a tailored black tuxedo suit appears on the curving marble runway. From the first look it is apparent that this is not a Galliano show - but that's okay! Because isn't the point of getting a new designer to go in a new direction? Or maybe that's just me.

Peplums and pants are my favorite silhouettes from the show

The channeling of New Look silhouettes is obvious, but Simons does it in a fresh way. Perhaps my favorite looks were the peplum tops, the nipped waists with these exaggerated skirts, all over straight-leg pants. I think those did the best job of utilizing New Look styles while going in a modern direction. This makes me eager to try my own oversized peplum/pants combo.

Now, a common complaint among bloggers is that Raf Simons doesn't "get" couture, or that this show lacked the theatricality of Galliano's couture shows. These complaints are silly for several reasons.

Red Carpet Ready

On the first point, about Simons not understanding the idea of couture (and by that they mean the clothes aren't over-the-top enough) nowhere in the Couture Regulations does it state that couture clothes require a certain amount of beads per square inch or a minimum of 20 yards of fabric per dress. People should also know that most other couturiers aren't nearly as flamboyant as Galliano or Lagerfeld. Look at Bouchra Jarrar who, as told by Nicole Phelps of style.com, "has yet to put a single beaded ball gown on her runway". Couture is about something more than elaborate sets and theatrics - it's about telling a story through beautiful clothing, about showcasing old-style sewing and designing.

On the second point, the whacky sets and over-the-top productions are fun and amusing but can be distracting, and the setting of this show was frankly stunning - beautiful but not so overwhelming that the staging overshadows the clothes.

I think Simons did an excellent job with this first couture collection (and his first ever collection for Dior, which is even more pressure!) and yes, he played it a bit safe with his heritage-based looks, but they were exquisite and flawless in their constructions. People miss Galliano and the excitement, but frankly, the hype that surrounded this presentation made it the most anticipated Dior show in a long while. Raf Simons is not John Galliano, and I am so totally fine with that.

Be sure to check back for more Fall 2012 Couture reviews and let me know what you thought about Raf Simons' debut at Christian Dior!

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The 'New Look' at Dior

RAF SIMONS, the new designer at CHRISTIAN DIOR; Alexander Klein/Agence France-Presse -Getty Images

As you probably already know from various sources, the New York Times has announced that Raf Simons (the until-recently head designer at Jil Sander) will take the reigns at Dior. The fashion world has been holding its breath as Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, the luxury fashion conglomerate that owns Christian Dior, has struggled to find a successor after former head designer John Galliano's much-publicized anti-Semitic remarks led to Galliano's termination last Spring.

Jil Sander Spring 2011 -style.com

Marc Jacobs was for a long time the obvious first choice, but he fell out of the running, along with several others, due to arguments over compensation. A few other names that have been named as possible successors: Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, Christian Lacroix, Haider Ackermann, Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, and those are only a handful of the speculated choices.

Simons was among the speculated group as well, though many considered his minimalist streak at Jil Sander to be conflicting with the opulence and extravagance of Dior and thus disregarded him as just another name thrown into the ring. I myself was rooting for Christian Lacroix, who seemed most fit to handle the couture aspect of Dior, and whose creations I have always found absolutely tantalizing, but it seems I have been mistaken.

While the fashion world eagerly waited, we entered into Fall 2012 Fashion Week, and the rumors began swirling once again. With Marc Jacobs out of the running by this point, Dior's mystery designer was anyone's guess. The recent shuffling around of designers from house to house added new names to the already long list of possibilities, and while Raf Simons was still one of the top contenders, he was only one in many names to be considered.

Then the news hit: three days before the Jil Sander Show, it was announced that Raf Simons had been fired and replaced by the brand's founder, who was staging a comeback. The Fall 2012 show, therefore, was bittersweet, as it was possibly Simon's best collection to date. At Jil Sander, Simons has become one of the leaders in minimalist fashions, and so it was somewhat shocking to see blush pinks, feminine cuts, and modest hemlines grace the catwalk. It was decidedly vintage and, looking back on it now, reminiscent of the "New Look" that Christian Dior himself made famous in 1947. Was Simons perhaps giving us a hint of what was yet to come?

Jil Sander Fall 2012 -style.com

With Simons out of a job and the Dior position still wide open, his name of course soared to the top of the list, and his latest collection sollidified the belief for many hopefuls that Raf Simons would be finally named the new head designer of Dior. Now, finally, we can rest peacefully knowing that Bill Gayten will not have to create another awful couture collection for the celebrated French couture house.

It will be quite interesting to see how Raf Simons manages to do couture, as the Fall 2012 Couture show will most likely be his first for Dior. Here's hoping for the best!

What are your thoughts on Raf for Dior?

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Au Cinema

Christmastime always brings loads of perfume and fashion videos. I wish fashion videos would get more recognition, because they are way more creative than most other commercial videos. Here are some of my recent favorites:

"Shade Parade" by Chanel

"Prada Candy" by Prada

"J'adore Dior" by Dior

"Portrait of Hailee" by Miu Miu

Lanvin

Versace for H&M

Alice + Olivia

"Valentina" by Valentino

(all videos not mine, I'm just sharing them)

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The Big Time (Part One)

   
Sometimes couture can be disappointing -the expectations are set so high and sometimes designers cannot compare to the things they did last season. This spring, however, I feel that most designers surpassed my expectations. Let's look at some of the highlights:

Armani Prive

When I saw the Armani collection I felt like I had walked onto some strange, ultra-fashionable, ultra-mod alien planet from the future. The neon colors and the fabrics used made everything look so sleek and futuristic, and I especially adored the final dress with the silver and red looked like a walking disco ball, but in a cool way, not a cheesy middle school dance way. I really can't wait to see who is daring enough to try out some of these ensembles in the coming months. Some of the dresses with that awkward skinny waist/big hips combo might not translate well to real life, but some of the other outfits might be really cool on a fashionable person.

Chanel

Chanel stayed true to its roots this season and stuck with feminine boxy skirt suits, pastels, and plenty of little details that make the clothes so much more special. And, of course, I loved every moment of it. The first half of the collection was a little unconventional, as the outfits seemed a little too generic and just kind of boring, but once you got toward the end all the big skirts and sequins start to give that twinkle in your eye (or at least my eye). If I could wear one collection for my entire life, this may just be it.

Christian Dior

Now that I know how much fabric and time it takes to make an ultra-full skirt, I have a new-found appreciation for Dior and all the gigantic skirts they do. I just love the vintage 50s look combined with these fantastical, dreamlike qualities. John Galliano knows how to combine both feminine, form-fitting outfits with ridiculous over-the-top accents that, when combined, make a magical series of outfits. Modern-day Disney princesses would totally go for these dresses.

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