Christian Dior Fall 2011 Couture Designed by Bill Gaytten - Images: Style.com
Before I even took a look at the Christian Dior Fall Couture 2011 images, status updates all over the social networks touted that Cathryn Horyn gave it the thumbs down. I was almost sure she was her usual veterarn hard-to-please fashion journalist. That is until I saw the mess for myself.
Keeping the Chrisitan Dior collections true to the namesake's visions was perhaps the biggest challenge to John Galliano. In recent seasons, it seems that Galliano showed a bitrepetition in his designs and his first shows back in 2001 weren't his best works. But what hindered the now disgraced designer also made him brilliant.
As for Gaytten's couture collection for Dior, if editors weren't told they were viewing the Christian Dior show, how would they know at all that this show had any connection to Mr. Dior's legacy? Gaytten's Dior-Pucci-Jeremy Scott-Heatherette hybrid lacked the one element that Christian Dior built his reputation on- refined elegance.
Christinan Dior's "New Look" - Images: Fashion the Century of the Designer
Even the most wacky of Galliano's collections still had a certain, eh, shall we say, Je ne sais quoi...but it worked.
The fall 2011 couture collection started with an 80's throwback then nosedived into a mesh origami and sheer muu muu collision course. Fluorescent paint smudges and pink zebra might be great for the hipster kids. Maybe the technical know-how is there. Perhaps Gaytten could do a successful line on his own once he's had more experience in front of the camera. But this is not Dior.
Despite the personal troubles of John Galliano, the union between the designer and the label may have run its course. The company has acknowledged though the 25 year assistant oversaw and designed the couture 2011 collection, he was not a sure shot for the Creative Director of Dior: "Mr. Gaytten has done this collection but he is not artistic director." Dior president Sidney Toledano told journalists backstage in a post-show interview. "We are taking our time because we want to find a long-term solution, and many hypotheses are being explored
For those of us who gasped at the sight of possible downgrade of Dior, this is a relief. LVMH should take a good look Richardo Tischi's couture collection for Fall 2011 and make him an offer that he cant refuse.
Past Couture Collections with John Galliano at Christian Dior - Images: Style.com
