Who Will Succeed John Galliano At Dior? #2 *Update Raf Simons Offically Hired*

[LagerfeldBoy]

If Raf coming to Dior means kicking Kris Van Assche out I'm not too happy about it. He is doing a great job for the menswear, a bit slow, but he surely has a direction.

Oh YES, if it means replacing Kris, then by all means, let them hire Raf. Imho, Kris has always been such a bad fit for the menswear line. Thinking about, if Raf does design for the menswear, it'd be absolutely fantastic!

 

[Crying Diamonds]

The second picture is not an example of the New Look.

I guess excessive can be interpreted as 'with lots of embellishments' as in the last two looks. But using twenty yards of expensive and extravagant fabric for one garment and ignoring the post-war fabric restriction seems pretty excessive to me.

Yes, the New Look was extremely excessive when it was introduced - the skirts were cut from full circles of fabric to create that enormous volume - imagine how much fabric a skirt like that posted would have used. Plus, Dior re-introduced corsetry and all of the mechanics involved in them, all of this demolished any simplicity and natural beauty designers like Chanel had established previously.

I am getting more and more excited about Raf's first collection for Dior - if I see any direct referencing to archive I will be highly disappointed - I am sick to death of the New Look just from Galliano reinventing it repeatedly, if Dior were still alive I'm sure he'd have had the imagination to come up with something different by now.
My only concern is that, because of the current Dior customer, Raf may have to turn his sterile, colour-blocked designs into something much more chiffon and beaded, I hope he can work this without destroying his unique aesthetic - I imagine a pixelated ethereal.
This is the sort of exciting change that I've been waiting for - someone has stopped hiring the designers we know can do Dior and has taken a risk with someone who is the opposite of the decadence and Victorianism of the house.
I cannot wait - it will be the ticket of the season.

 

[mikeijames]

Do you honestly think Dior would let him do something like that!?! I think LVMH let him know right after Galliano's firing that he was a contender, therefore he has been trying a softer & more feminine side to his work. I think he has what it takes. I mean, weren't those peplum maxiskirts in the Jil Sander S/S 11 collection just amazing? I could see shapes like that in his Dior shows.

yes, the couture fantasies that raf did for jil sander remain the stuff of the fashion firmament, but i just wonder if the house of dior remains an environment where that sort of creativity would flourish. remember, raf simons had the freedom to bring the house of jil sander to the couture. i question whether he'll have the same flexibility at a house like dior to bring them to a more modern moment. in that freedom lies the freedom to fail hence one season of lara croft tomb raider and the next a masterful couture show.

as we have all noted, christian dior has a different relationship with arnault than the rest of the lvmh properties and one can see it in the collections galliano put out during the borehouse years: simply compare the creative freedom of dundas at pucci (or tisci at givenchy or jacobs at vuitton or philo at celine) to the past few years of galliano at dior.

 

[mdankwah]

^You've hit the nail on the head about the relationship of Christian Dior and Bernard Arnault. To me it feels like he's trying to focus attention back onto the brand itself and what it stands for, going back to the core values of Dior, for which a designer like Raf Simons is a perfect match. A much more discrete and private alternative to John Galliano.
You mentioned Philo and you can add in Sarah Burton at McQueen. Both these designers are very private individuals allowing their creativity to shine through. And I honestly feel this is what Raf will bring to Dior, a keen respect for the heritage of the brand coupled with his unique aesthetic without all the unnecessary fuss and drama that Dior needs right now

 

[JuiceMajor]

i wasn't sure about Raf but i am kinda excited what he will do with Dior! it is definitely exciting time and will keep people interested in Dior post-galliano!

plus, taking over dior homme is definitely going to be an good one. just can't imagine what hedi might feel!

 

[Mutterlein]

i wasn't sure about Raf but i am kinda excited what he will do with Dior! it is definitely exciting time and will keep people interested in Dior post-galliano!

plus, taking over dior homme is definitely going to be an good one. just can't imagine what hedi might feel!

it would be the ultimate revenge

 

[matryoshkadoll]

I agree...

^You've hit the nail on the head about the relationship of Christian Dior and Bernard Arnault. To me it feels like he's trying to focus attention back onto the brand itself and what it stands for, going back to the core values of Dior, for which a designer like Raf Simons is a perfect match. A much more discrete and private alternative to John Galliano.
You mentioned Philo and you can add in Sarah Burton at McQueen. Both these designers are very private individuals allowing their creativity to shine through. And I honestly feel this is what Raf will bring to Dior, a keen respect for the heritage of the brand coupled with his unique aesthetic without all the unnecessary fuss and drama that Dior needs right now

I agree, especially about Burton. She is doing a splendid job.

 

[Squizree]

Marc Jacobs on Dior and Haute Couture:

There have been on-and-off conversations about Dior. I don’t know; maybe someday in the future, maybe years from now, I may end up going someplace else, maybe Dior. But right now I am at Vuitton, and all that matters to me is that that’s where I am and I’m going to keep doing my thing...The irony in all of this is that I don’t dream of doing anything else, or I didn’t. My greatest challenge is to do something better than we’ve done the season before. The idea of couture doesn’t hold that thing for me. It’s archaic—in my opinion. I mean, I am really interested in the craftsmanship behind couture. But I can explore all that in ready-to-wear. With couture, one dress each season is photographed by a couple of magazines; there’s no advertising; it reaches 20 customers. I don’t feel there is anything lacking in what we do. I get to work with these amazing craftsmen. Maybe not the same ateliers that would make a couture dress, but, again, we are not in a deficit for working with people who create beautiful things. I am not sure I ever looked at couture as this great opportunity.

nymag

 

[valliaddict]

^Ugh, you have no idea how glad I am that Marc Jacobs is not going to Dior!!!! Could you imagine how tacky his collections would be?
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[Street_a_Licious]

The one and only person I see fit to replace Galliano is Olivier Theyskens. There is no one more capable and talented than him that can deliver drama, theatricality, glamor and a hint of darkness. He's young but very well experienced, with Rochas, Nina Ricci and Theory under his belt, he has gained an understanding for commercial and high end fashion. Couture will only be his playground.
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oh please let Olivier stay away from too much freedom. he's still young and that's why he needs guidelines, not freedom. his freedom at Nina Ricci was stunning at first, but turned bad really quickly.

 

[mikeijames]

^Ugh, you have no idea how glad I am that Marc Jacobs is not going to Dior!!!! Could you imagine how tacky his collections would be?
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while i share your relief, i have no confidence that raf simons' interest in the couture -- outside of his latest three season dalliance -- runs any deeper than marc jacobs'.

 

[agee]

IMO I don't think that the incoming designer has to be too wedded to a certain aesthetic or concerned about continuity. In Dior's case, even though Christian Dior himself made significant contributions to modern fashion, he only headed the house for a few years and then other designers like Saint Laurent, Bohan, Ferre and Galliano came in and put their stamp on the house as well. I think that continuity is only a concern when it comes to not alienating the existing customer base, and when it comes to the couture customers I think that the relationship with the atelier is probably more critical. Re the RTW base, if Dior even has loyal / repeat RTW customers, they are used to switching things up because Dior collections in recent years have careened from mid-twentieth century to equestrian to Asiatic to floral to Flemish.

Re managerial interference, I think that too much is at stake at Dior for the Creative Director to have complete creative autonomy and it has also been widely reported that Arnault takes a special interest in Dior, but I don't know if Arnault's believed to be deeper involvement in recent seasons was simply because he just could not help himself. I suspect that there have been behind-the-scenes issues at Dior for sometime related to what ended up leading to Galliano's ouster and his seeking treatment for substance abuse, and that Arnault's involvement was probably related to that as well.

The New Look not excessive?!?

Another example are the Junon and Venus looks.

fashionbombdaily.com

metmuseum.org

 

[mikeijames]

IMO I don't think that the incoming designer has to be too wedded to a certain aesthetic or concerned about continuity. In Dior's case, even though Christian Dior himself made significant contributions to modern fashion, he only headed the house for a few years and then other designers like Saint Laurent, Bohan, Ferre and Galliano came in and put their stamp on the house as well. I think that continuity is only a concern when it comes to not alienating the existing customer base, and when it comes to the couture customers I think that the relationship with the atelier is probably more critical. Re the RTW base, if Dior even has loyal / repeat RTW customers, they are used to switching things up because Dior collections in recent years have careened from mid-twentieth century to equestrian to Asiatic to floral to Flemish.

while i agree to a certain extent, we have had very few tests of a creative director taking over a house and pulling it in an extremely different direction than its predecessor. the two houses that spring to mind come in yves saint laurent under tom ford then stefano pilati and the house of balmain under oscar de la renta (for all intents and purposes) and then christophe decarnin. in both cases, both houses flourished under new creative direction: one buttressed by the wild popularity of their accessory lines and the other with inexplicable success in retail of the clothing. i do believe that the designs of a raf simons could accomplish either (or both) of those outcomes for dior going forward.

Re managerial interference, I think that too much is at stake at Dior for the Creative Director to have complete creative autonomy and it has also been widely reported that Arnault takes a special interest in Dior, but I don't know if Arnault's believed to be deeper involvement in recent seasons was simply because he just could not help himself. I suspect that there have been behind-the-scenes issues at Dior for sometime related to what ended up leading to Galliano's ouster and his seeking treatment for substance abuse, and that Arnault's involvement was probably related to that as well.

i don't agree with this. the "suits" need to worry about moving product and positioning the house to shine no matter what the creative director does. the wertheimers don't interfere when uncle karl wants to import an iceberg and put top models in chewbacca pants. monsiuer pinault does not veto a decision to put seven thousand dollar shoes on the balenciaga runway. with that said, all of our disparaging will not change their attitudes. the best we could hope for is someone strong enough to fight for what they believe in. i think those have already done that -- like hedi slimane at dior or some other marquee designers -- would find themselves best equipped to push a strong new vision forward given the realities at that house.

 

[agee]

while i agree to a certain extent, we have had very few tests of a creative director taking over a house and pulling it in an extremely different direction than its predecessor. the two houses that spring to mind come in yves saint laurent under tom ford then stefano pilati and the house of balmain under oscar de la renta (for all intents and purposes) and then christophe decarnin. in both cases, both houses flourished under new creative direction: one buttressed by the wild popularity of their accessory lines and the other with inexplicable success in retail of the clothing. i do believe that the designs of a raf simons could accomplish either (or both) of those outcomes for dior going forward.

As I stated, I think that it may work at Dior because of its long-standing history of having its different CDs put their stamp on the house and also their recent history of not having a very definable aesthetic. I don't think that this will work at Chanel because it has had variations of the same aesthetic for decades.

i don't agree with this. the "suits" need to worry about moving product and positioning the house to shine no matter what the creative director does. the wertheimers don't interfere when uncle karl wants to import an iceberg and put top models in chewbacca pants. monsiuer pinault does not veto a decision to put seven thousand dollar shoes on the balenciaga runway. with that said, all of our disparaging will not change their attitudes. the best we could hope for is someone strong enough to fight for what they believe in. i think those have already done that -- like hedi slimane at dior or some other marquee designers -- would find themselves best equipped to push a strong new vision forward given the realities at that house.

I agree with the latter point and that is that at Dior you have an "it is what it is" situation. Re the statement that "the "suits" need to worry about moving product and positioning the house to shine no matter what the creative director does," I think that it is the opposite and that is that if the CD does not want interference from the suits, then s/he is the one that needs to worry about moving the product that is under his / her purview and / or producing "products" that position the house to shine with the expectation that it will push the sales of the other product lines.

There is nothing wrong with the CD having complete autonomy in theory but for that to take place then that means that the operations under his / her purview needs to be self-sustaining and generating an acceptable level of profit, or that the collections generate enough buzz that it raises / sustains awareness of the overall brand which in turn contributes to the bottom line of the other product lines. I suspect that in Lagerfeld's case that the Wertheimers do not interfere because either Karl's showmanship or the man himself contributes to the overall bottom line by raising / sustaining awareness of the brand. Also Lagerfeld may send Chewbacca pants down the runway but as noted previously, he is also going to send plenty wearable, classic Chanel-esque garments down that same iceberg dripping runway. With Balenciaga, the shoes fit the buzz generating criteria, it seems to me like there were entire editorials centered around Balenciaga shoes, plus given that it seems like Ghesquiere collections are becoming more accessible, for lack of a better word, I am not so sure if the bean counters have not gotten ahold of him. Furthermore I don't think that Balenciaga has a huge infrastructure or cost base vis a vis other houses, and I don't think that Ghesquiere does costly things, the shows tend to be in crowded salons in Paris, walked by mostly low-cost models (yeah, yeah I know that Gisele walked recently), so the fashion side of Balenciaga is either self-sustaining or is not a drag on the other product lines or other PPR brands.

 

[TianSoFine]

The idea of couture doesn’t hold that thing for me. It’s archaic—in my opinion. I mean, I am really interested in the craftsmanship behind couture. But I can explore all that in ready-to-wear. With couture, one dress each season is photographed by a couple of magazines; there’s no advertising; it reaches 20 customers.

And this is why I'm so glad that Marc Jacobs will not be going to Dior. And IMO, this attitude comes out pretty clearly in his work. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely something I personally don't like about him as a designer.

 

[tarsha]

Simons to Dior. Confirmation after couture week.

twitter/VeljkoGavril

 

[mistress_f]

^ who's that guy who tweeted it though?

 

[Melancholybaby]

^I wonder about that too. He always seems to have a lot of inside info on his twitter. Does he work in the fashion industry?

 

[Jungla_Juana]

livejournal

 

[mistress_f]

i'm actually overly excited about this. i mean as a huge fan of galliano and as an admirer of simons im utterly confused by this choice but it's -definitely- the most interesting one. im wondering what he'll bring to haute couture. it might be perfect.