Raf Simons surrealism and pop art inspired collection for Fall 2013 has successfully helped him build his own devoted following at Dior. Appreciating the past, but combining modern aesthetics friendly to the 21st Century has been a winning formula. This season, the thread that brought Dior and Simons together is the shared love of art. As it happens, before Monsieur Christian Dior became a master couturier, he was a gallerist, and this is where his love for the Belle Epoque began. Whereas for Simons, his love of art began with Andy Warhol.
Surrealism and Pop Art at Dior
“WarhoI made so much sense, I was interested in the delicacy and sensitivity in the early work he did, I was drawn to that graphic style naturally in this collection. It was that notion of hand designed and personal signature that inspired the collection.”
Simons’ silk shift dresses had a scrapbook quality with randomly arranged embroidered or digitally printed Warhol portraits of women and or shoes sketches. He referred to them as “Memory Dresses.” The Warhol sketches were also visible on the peplum of a cocktail dress and on envelope clutches. Simons silhouettes paid tribute to Dior’s classic bar jacket and Dior’s “New Look” with nipped waist silhouettes that were fitted on top, and fuller on the bottom. He paired the bar jacket with full trousers made of navy wool denim or impressive circle skirts cut from sumptuous leather. An asymmetrical, scarlet red coat with bishop sleeves and an ascot-like scarf closure stood out among the many A-Line silhouettes.
