Dior's Tulips and Daisies

2010 July 6

John Galliano
SWAN View Gallery

(PARIS) “John Galliano is a god,” declared Marisa Berenson right before the start of Dior’s semi-annual love letter to excess. “And these are his teachings!” The word on the street, of course, is that couture is making its financial comeback thanks to heavy attendance from deep-pocketed clients from China, the Middle East, Moscow, and shockingly enough, the en-Dow-ed U.S. And Galliano & Co. only helped confirm this by bringing back the pomp and circumstance at the Musée Rodin after showing at Dior HQ on Avenue Montaigne for the last two seasons.. “It took a total of nine days to set this all up," said a serene, headset-wearing Alex de Betak. "But of course, this is worth it."

This year’s Galliano show featured a giant tent with plush seating, an oversized Rodin tulip sculpture on stage, scores of Stephen Jones hats, and a familiar set of characters. The entire Arnault clan sat front and center, along with Bernadette Chirac, Peter Marino, and Kris Van Assche. There were even more celebrities than usual. “I’m a little spoiled, because this was my second Dior couture show and it was just eye-popping, “ smiled Jessica Alba. “The colors, the girls, and the setting was just to die for. But I still don’t know how those girls pull off the dresses with those heels.” Lily Cole does, but that doesn’t mean she wanted to join the gang. “Occasionally, I would want to be on that catwalk once again,” she smiled. “But for now, I’m just happy to sit back and enjoy the front row.”

Blake Lively took in her second Dior show, but sat next to Anna Wintour for the first time in Paris. “I was lucky enough to see Ralph Lauren's show with her as well,” she boasted before being directed towards the exit by her bulky bodyguards and skipping backstage altogether. And Jared Leto had an entirely different kind of experience to discuss after the show. “I was just thrilled to give up my couture virginity to Galliano,” he sighed.

Moments later, Leto joined the likes of Charlotte Sarkozy, Bruno Frisoni, and Lou Doillon to toast Galliano with champagne. “I just told John that these weren’t some frail, innocent flowers,” said Doillon in the tight space. “They had some danger and gorgeous boldness to them and I wanted to be part of it all.” And while all of that was going, the entire cast of 30 slender supers was lined up backstage for individual portrait sessions while patiently waiting in line with tiny plastics cups of water and straws. “This might take a little while,” laughed Karlie Kloss and Frida Gustavsson while dealing with heavy make-up and some real heat. “We think we might need more like a gallon of this!”
VALENTINE UHOVSKI