And Then They Were Won

The homage to the sculptor is serendipitous,as Galliano’s gowns are no less dramatic,like artwork in cloth. His muse was the one-time friend of Mr Dior,an artist and illustrator called René Gruau.

The show began with a loud and collective sigh: the first piece,the most important in a défilé,as it sets the mood for the rest of the collection,is theatrical. Just the way Galliano and his love for costume and the stage intended. It is a red silk,embroidered manteau,with black dégradé tulle. Thirty-one ensembles follow,each one voluptuous as if pinched from a piece of jewel-toned dough. A brown tulle jacket has a bow for a tail. The shapes are bulbous,an accentuated hip here or an exaggerated shoulder there.

Galliano’s costume ball is hark-back to the 1950s,with scarlet lips and a royal demeanour. The models walk slowly like gazelles,posing crookedly to show off the architecture of voluminous silk and the shadow-play of the tulle. Ceremonious as it is,the gowns lack the sexiness that is Galliano’s schtick. His reverence for Mr Dior supercedes his own statement. But Anna Wintour is here,and she seems impressed.

Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune looks irritated,but she would later write,“The show was dazzling in its craftsmanship,as paint appeared to wash over the dresses and iridescent embroideries winked at the audience”. (France’s most popular newspaper,Le Figaro,gushed about the Dior show the next day,carrying a full-page photo from the show.)

Post the show,friends and air-kissers rush backstage to congratulate the maestro. Pedro Almodovar is hogging the designer all to himself,ignoring his beauteous new actress,Elena Anaya,on his arm. The LVMH group’s president,Bernard Arnault,is seriously smiley even though he’s assaulted by television journalists. Former supermodel Stella Tennant is chatty and polite.

Galliano,despite full make-up,is shy and retiring. Here is the absolute antipode of the man who bowed felinely on stage just a few minutes before. But this fashion and illusion is king,geddit?

The writer was a guest of Christian Dior