Paris Haute Couture S/S '08: Christian Dior

Our US sister blog Shiny Style have been busy reporting on the Christian Dior couture show in Paris, which once again, successfully captured the imagination in colour, structure and detail.

This really is why John Galliano is one of my all-time favourite designers - his penchant for drama, it seems, is limitless.

"The colours! The lightness! The embroidery! It was magical," Diane Kruger told IHT's Suzy Menkes backstage.

The architecture of lightness and volume in this whirlwind of extreme colour took Galliano's vision of John Singer Sargent's portrait of Madame X to a whole other level. Origami-style structures refused to be weighed down by heavy decoration such as embroidery, plastic flowers and clumps of sparkly bits.

Topping off each masterpiece was a frizzed high hairdos and saucer-style hats in a '60s vibe. Models were perched on typically crazy Dior platforms to perform for flash-bulbing photographers. It's a shame that we may not get to see any of it on the Oscars red carpet.


Amid a crisis on the stock markets yesterday, it seems that fantasy at the highest end on the catwalks will not be sacrificed. "Haute couture is the place for dreams," said Galliano. Amen to that!

[Images: Rex / Catwalking.com via Getty]