// Fade to #C5C5C5 » Christian Dior

Fashionology: Gruau – Dior Illustrated Exhibition

Qing — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:05:11 +0000

In the first page of the booklet it says a quote by John Galliano – ‘To be inspired by Dior is to be inspired by Rene Gruau. His sketches capture the silhouette and spirit of Dior and a new era of fashion and femininity. His illustrations are timeless, ever youthful, ever faithful to the moment he saw; they capture the energy, the sophistication and daring of Dior, and equally are a token of an enduring friendship.’

It really is like…Gruau’s illustration could speak to you…

Flower Woman – below

Christian Dior’s love of flowers inspired him to create the New Look in 1947. Drawn to their architectural symmetry, their colours and scent, he aimed to transpose these qualities on to the clothes he designed: ‘I was drawing flower women, soft, sloping shoulders, generous busts, a slim waist and wide skirts like flower petals.’ Rene Gruau understood and shared Dior’s passion for flowers, and when Dior asked him to create drawings for his perfume Diorissimo in 1956, Gruau initially presented the young woman in the nude. Although Dior was impressed by the boldness of the illustrator’s vision, he eventually asked Gruau to dress her in an elegant black sheath dress.

Diorissimo, 1956, below

was designed around the notes of Dior’s favourite flower, lily of the valley. As lily of the valley’s essence cannot be extracted, the perfume uses a blend of other flowers to recreate its scent. To reflect this, Gruau illustrated a mixed bouquet to evoke the spirit of the fragrance.

Miss Dior was originally a line of bath products. And to assemble that theme, Gruau has created some illustration with girl whistling in the bath.

There’re real photographs being cut and collaged onto the illustration. Those days without computer…

Dioressence (below) was created in 1979. The illustration for the original advertising campaign for Dioressence was inspired by the Belle Epoque society paintings of Georges Clairin. The image of an elegant woman reclining in a hammock conveys perfectly the exotic Haute Couture spirit of the scent.

Below illustration was called Miss Dior created in 1961, inspired by Venetian dominoes, recalls the great society balls of the post-war years, which were often hosted by mutual friends of Rene Gruau and Christian Dior.

For Dior’s second perfume, Diorama, Gruau chose to depict a neo Louis XVI chair onto which a woman has tossed her elegant gloves and scarf. Gruau understood better than anyone the power of the symbolic gesture, and in his drawings for Dior he often referred to the 18th century, a period of great influence for Christian Dior.

This illustration Dior-Dior 1976 is inspired by the techniques of Japanese calligraphy. The model is positioned in a large character reminiscent of Gruau’s own signature. The play on space gives a strong sense of the immaterial quality of the fragrance.

With swirly pattern carved on the body of the perfume bottle j’dor limited edition 2003, it truly represents the concept of the perfume as ‘a drop of gold’.

…below 2 illustrations are for stockings campaign…very cleverly portraited and drawing people attention to its promotional point.

…I wonder whether Lady Diana took her hair-cut inspiration from this illustration which was created during mid 60s…

…they are just so divine, magical and… Christmasy…

The exhibition overall has a genuine feeling of Christmas which is also helped by setting at Somerset House. With the ice-stating ring and Tiffany temporary shop set outside, this exhibition would be an ideal Christmas visit set into your diary.

Marchesa Casati – A dash of eccentricity

awais — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:45:22 +0000

Earlier we’ve blogged about how art inspires fashion, but how about when the artistic inspiration is a person – a muse? One such person, the Marchesa Luisa Casati, has inspired many writers, painters and also fashion designers .

The Marchesa was born into a wealthy Austrian-Italian family in Milan in 1881. A patron of coutouriers such as Paul Poiret, Mariano Fortuny and Erté and jewellers like Lalique, Casati astonished European society for the first three decades of the 20th century with her eccentric personality and outrageous style. In his autobiography Erté described her as the “the most extravagantly odd woman I have ever met”. She would wear living snakes as jewellery, throw parties where her servants were covered in leafed gold from top to toe and parade her pet cheetahs around in Venice on leashes covered with gold and diamonds whilst wearing nothing but a fur coat. Her hair was a dyed a deep henna red, her skin powdered pale white and her eyes heavily kohled.

The Marchesa painted by Augustus John to the left. Carina Roitfeld as Casati, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.

More after the jump

She wasn’t only an inspiration to her contemporaries, more than 50 years after her death she still continues to inspires artists and fashion designers alike. In 2003 the New Yorker wrote an article about the Marchesa. The photograph of Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld dressed as Casati was taken by none other than Karl Lagerfeld. The article also featured sketches by Lagerfeld inspired by Luisa Casati.

Chanel resort collection 2010

The Marchesa also seems to have been one of the main inspirations for Lagerfeld’s resort collection for Chanel 2010. The show was held in Venice, a place which was home to Casati for a large part of her life. The models’ hair and makeup was clearly inspired by her signature look.

Another designer who cites the Marchesa as a major influence is John Galliano. His extravagant haute couture show for Dior in 1998 was inspired by her and cost 2 million dollars to stage. The show was held at Opéra Garnier in Paris and the setting was inspired by the Marchesa’s lavish soirées.

Galliano for Dior Couture 1998

Galliano was also inspired by Casati when he launched his debut fragrance in 2008. The design of the flasque is inspired by this portrait of Casati, painted by Giovanni Baldini.

For his autumn/winter 2004/05 collection, which was named ”a dash of eccentricity”, Armani named Visconti’s movie The Damned, La Belle Époque and the Marchesa as his main influences.

Armani autumn/winter 2004/05

She was also the main inspiration behind Tom Ford’s spring/summer 2004 collection for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche.

Yves Saint Laurent, spring/summer 2004

The Marchesa is also the theme of a recent editorial shoot in Acne Paper’s fall/winter issue. The shoot features Tilda Swinton and was shot by Paolo Roversi.

Tilda Swinton as the Marchesa in the autumn/winter 2009 number of Acne Paper

Casati was once quoted saying “I want to be a living work of art”. Throughout her life, she tried to commision her own immortality by patronizing some of the biggest artists of her time. When looking back at how she still manages to inspire people to this day, I would say that her quest was successful.

Photo sources: Vogue/Style.com, Acne Paper, Chanel, The New Yorker

Favourite Part of a Female

Qing — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:08:15 +0000

No…not a question from Dr.Hannibal, but when you look at a female, which part would you notice first.

Many people would say eyes as they are said ‘the window to heart’, how much can you see a person from looking into the eyes. Christian Dior’s least favourtie part on a femal is actual the knees. And that is the reason he always had all his skirt length to be ‘just over the knee’. He obviously quite prefer the female waist and therefore invent the ‘new look’ with cinched in waistline. However, Coco Chanel thinks that was a backwards move since she freed women’s body from corset by dressing them in cotton jersey which is at the time a common material for mens underwear.

I personally favour John Galliano’s choice, the back view of a female. It could speak so much attitude with a simple back view. Johnny Depp admits when he first time saw that beautiful female back in a Paris hotel lobby, he knew he had found the one—Vanessa Paradis.

And that’s why so many designers are focusing details on the back. Australian designer Willow had this quite cleverly done on a ready-to-wear day & night dress.

It’s romantic, yes it’s powerful too.