Against Nature ... Dior SS2014 Ready-To-Wear Collection

November 07, 2013

Against Nature ... Dior SS2014 Ready-To-Wear Collection

The colourful setting of the runway with what seemed to be multi-hued wisteria branches jutting from the ceiling very much explained the theme of Raf Simons’ Dior collection theme for the spring/summer season: A new tribe of flower women.

At the recent Paris Fashion Week, Simons presented his latest offerings for the upcoming spring/summer to a retinue of fashion journalists and editors, top style makers and Dior arbiters who flew from all corners of the world.

Opulent colours, modern silhouettes, and classic floral prints coalesced alongside architectural approaches and artful detailing, hence creating a seminal, semi-surreal mood for the collection.

In a way, it can be summed as an experimentation of altering Dior’s fashion through the celebration of artificial and the real.

“I wanted a sense this season of a particular group of women, a distinct new tribe, a sophisticated and savage at the same time,” Says Raf Simons on the collection. “I wanted to feel that you wouldn’t know quite where these women were coming from and where they were going to, that they exist in a new place of change and possibility.”

For the spring/summer collection, fine pleating plays a dominant part in the collection, making its appearance in almost all of the showcased pieces, starting with sheer, off-white silk skirt with sexy cut-out on the hip and all the way to the dresses.

More cut-out application can be seen on the shoulder and back areas of the shirtdress and front-gathered shirt dress worn with black silk top.

Furthermore, Simons also divided the collection into three categories with each category represents distinctive façade of his Dior woman interpretation: Traveller for women with the tendency of exploring; Transformer for women with transformable personal styles; and Transporter for women who dare to leap over the conventional style boundaries.

“This collection is the idea of twisting, turning and pushing Dior, where the lyrically romantic becomes dangerous; a beautiful rose garden becomes poisonous,” explains Simons.

“So much around Dior is about nature and there is the idea that you can’t change nature. But I wanted to change the very nature of things; that fashion exists as a place of possibility, risk and change,” Simons further adds.

In Travelling, much of the pieces are adorned with badges and insignias while Transformer boasts subtle architectural approaches such as skirts mimicking the shape and style of a classic paper lantern – billowy from the waist below but cinched and finely gathered at the above-the-knee hem.

Yet, global trendsetters will be thrilled to settle down for the statement making printed dresses doused with bold texts from the Transporter category.

Classic concepts of clothing are genetically modified, their DNA spliced or dissected to form new silhouettes. The Dior's classic and certainly must-have “Bar” jacket is cut at the waist; skirts and shorts are cross-pollinated; pleating is used extensively and architecturally to evoke new forms; knits are made feather light, yet strictly structured.

There are also two-piece looks that are perfect to be worn, just to linger by the poolside or the beach while basking under the summer sun.

As the late Monsieur Dior was known as the inventor of what is known today as "The New Look", Simons also introduced a new silhouette concept in the new collection, known as the “bourglass” silhouette.

The show culminates in a finale, a coming together of Dior past, present and future. In these silver jacquard silhouettes, covered in tiny flowers, past looks are repeated and re-imagined from Raf Simons’ time at Dior.

A slew of accessories such as slouchy handbags in exotic snakeskins, pointed-toe sling backs, and metallic grainy necklace fashioned like a wreath of gleaming berries complement the spring/summer looks.

Dior’s spring/summer 2014 ready-to-wear and accessories collections will be available at Dior boutiques and selected department stores worldwide from February 2014 onwards.