PARIS - The Christian Dior show in Paris Monday should make even notoriously icy U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour crack a smile.
British designer John Galliano delivered an ode to the magazine with his retro-flavoured haute couture collection, and he injected just enough sauciness to make it perfectly relevant for the 21st century.
Cinch-waisted jackets with extravagant folds at the waist were paired with translucent skirts, while evening gowns came in cascades of frosted tulle glistening with silver sequins.
The looks were inspired by model Lisa Fonssagrives, who married photographer Irving Penn in 1950. Together, they produced some of Vogue's most memorable images.
Guests including actresses Liv Tyler and Eva Mendes, singer Janet Jackson and supermodel Claudia Schiffer gathered at the Rodin sculpture museum for the display, which kicked off three days of autumn-winter couture shows.
Jackson said she was busy preparing for the launch of her own line of lingerie later this year.
"They're classic. There are some things that have a vintage feel to them," she said.
Perhaps she can crib some tips from Galliano, who has the vintage look down pat.
From the moment the first model emerged in a cinch-waisted white coat, topped with an oversized black patent leather corset belt, it was clear the rebel designer was on great form.
Galliano managed to steer clear of pastiche by playing with transparency. Fabrics dissolved into vaporous chiffon at the hem, and a black corset swimsuit was topped with a completely see-through black tulle gown.
Milliner Stephen Jones, a longtime collaborator, said hats were inspired by illustrator Eduardo Garcia Benito, famous for his 1920s Vogue covers of women in cloche hats.
Those snug-fitting caps were rendered in glistening black leather embroidery or lilac felt trimmed with silver eyelets.
"What was so great this season was to keep things super controlled," Jones said. "With millinery we can do so much, we have no bounds, but actually this season was very much about what we didn't put in."
That sense of perfectly pitched Parisian chic has recently drawn one high-profile fan to the Dior stable: France's first lady, the former model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
The wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy has worn Dior on official visits to Britain and Israel, drawing plaudits from style commentators.
"It's a lovely relationship because Dior is very old established name, Carla's the wife of the French president. To me, it's a natural symbiosis," said Hilary Alexander, fashion director of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"When a woman is faithful to a particular designer, things constantly can only get better because the designer gets an ever increasing appreciation of the shapes, the suits and the colours that work (for her)," she said.
