Dior Couture Fall 2012

Dior Couture Space Filled With Millions of Flowers
Dior

Behind The Scenes: How The Flower-Filled Dior Couture Set Was Made

Over a million flowers covered the mansion in Paris where Raf Simons staged his couture debut for Christian Dior this month, and the process took several days — plus a team of florists, truck drivers, and set designers — to pull off.
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Over a million flowers covered the mansion in Paris where Raf Simons staged his couture debut for Christian Dior this month, and the process took several days — plus a team of florists, truck drivers, and set designers — to pull off. Workers started cutting and packaging the flowers three days before the show, then began a two-day installation process that took all weekend. By the time Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, and Azzedine Alaia arrived for the show on Monday, July 2, five rooms had been covered with delphinium, orchids, zinnia, golden rods, Queen Anne's lace, and roses in a variety of colors. A look at how the walls of flowers were built in the video below.

Raf Simons Explains His First Dior Couture Show
Dior

Raf Simons Explains the "New Energy" at Dior

Raf Simons says the focus of his first collection for Christian Dior was to "change the psychology of people who are interested in couture."
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Raf Simons says the focus of his first collection for Christian Dior was to "change the psychology of people who are interested in couture."

Simons may have accomplished that goal: the reviews of the show have been universally positive, and many noted that Simons's work might cause a shift in the way couture is viewed. Cathy Horyn said Simons "gets the most and the best out of couture," while Tim Blanks observed that the designer "can't help himself; he will bring a heart-on-his-sleeve human dimension to this remote and rarefied world."

As Simons later explained to Blanks, he's doing that by re-imagining the possibilities and limits of the couture customer.

"I want to make it more dynamic, appeal to a person who has a different energy," he said. "A younger person, in mind, not necessarily in age. And I think couture is very much about curating something unique for women. Fashion is so mass-produced now; I hope there will come a refocus on how people see couture. And I would also hope for a new focus on the craft. . . . It's mind-blowing when you start investigating what is done here. But I want to approach it with a new energy. I'm interested to see how people will pick up on it."

Dior Couture Fall 2012 Show Date and Location
Dior

Raf Simons Seeking New Venue For Dior Couture Show

It's said that Raf Simons will show his debut Fall 2012 Couture collection for Dior next month in a vacant mansion in Paris, eschewing the house's traditional show venues.
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It's said that Raf Simons will show his debut Fall 2012 Couture collection for Dior next month in a vacant mansion in Paris, eschewing the house's traditional show venues. Simons is rumored to have selected a house on the Avenue d'Iéna, one of the streets that converges at the Arc de Triomphe. According to the official Couture Week schedule, Dior will show the collection twice on July 2: once to customers and once to the press.

In the past, Dior has staged its Couture shows in the gardens of the Rodin Museum, or in its couture salons on the Avenue Montaigne.

Photo: The finale of Dior's Spring 2013 Couture show.