In the spectacular and surreal surroundings of Le Palais Bulles, or The Bubble Palace, in the South of France, Raf Simons presented a playful cruise collection that borrows staple silhouettes from the Dior archive, but aired out and lightened up for the summer.
“I wanted an idea of freedom, playfulness and individuality to come to the fore in this collection, especially in consideration of the Dior archive,” Simons explained, adding, “It is not a heavy concept; it is light and young and there is a literal lightening of this clothing to make it fresh.”
The iconic Bar jacket of Christian Dior‘s New Look is reimagined in colorful line-checked crisp cotton, with a folded waist, flared skirt and voluminous sleeves, cut elegantly wide at the elbow. Jackets are worn with gingham short shorts with extended pocket linings that poke out below the hem, or structured mini skirts in pastels with appliqued panels of bronze and blue-silver lurex.
Babydoll dresses are cut with deep V-necklines and large square pockets on the hip, or with knife-pleat skirts. There are blown-up camouflage and animal prints in Pepto-Bismol pink and sunshine yellow. Seventies space-knit jumpers descend into woven skirts, frayed at the hem, and neat, printed shift dresses have thousands of tiny slashes in the fabric, opening like honeycombs with movement. Looks are accessorized with pointy victorian booties and chain purses or bucket bags in black or white leather with colorful graphic appliqué flowers.