And the veils that Stephen Jones contributed to the finale may have been from Paris in the 1930's, but there is timeless allure in that look. Past and future met again in an evening ensemble that matched the athletic ease of a citron silk knit to the grandeur of a floor-sweeping silk skirt. It was the same with the traditional Bucol silks woven to represent a painting, drips and all, by Sterling Ruby, one of the contemporary art world's hottest properties (and a Simons favorite). The formal past, the streamlined future, meeting in the middle. One key silhouette could best be defined as a full-skirted classic ball gown truncated at the peplum (a quote from a 1952 collection, according to the run of show), its skirt replaced by black silk cigarette pants. But he approached an actual couture collection with an appropriate balance of reverence and iconoclasm. Dior was obviously the guiding spirit of his fascination with midcentury couture (see the Q&A here) during his last seasons with Sander. Simons has been engaged with this world for a while. The first look-a tuxedo whose jacket was shaped after Dior's iconic Bar jacket, one of the most distinctive silhouettes in fashion-established an innate compatibility that reached across a half-century. Here, he used that unusually heightened sense of focus to reflect on Christian Dior as architect, a notion that dovetailed neatly with his own obsession with construction. As the man himself said, "A shift is happening."Ībout that outsider thing: It's a position that has always loaned a crystal clarity to Simons' vision and has helped him to the purest interpretations of his inspirations. The avant-garde outsider from Antwerp insinuated himself into the hallowed history of haute couture with a tour de force that had both emotional and intellectual resonance. That it would be such a triumph was a thrill. That it would be a success seemed a given, what with the evolving polish and confidence of Simons' "couture trilogy" for his previous employer, Jil Sander. Inside, the industry's great and good-Alaïa, Elbaz, Jacobs, Theyskens, Tisci, Van Assche, Versace, von Furstenberg-gathered to see Raf Simons debut his first haute couture collection for Christian Dior. Outside in the street, there was hysteria. Fashion had seen nothing like it for years.
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