Daily Front Row

2012 January 24

Paris Couture: Christian Dior, Versace

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Karlie Kloss in Dior Spring '12 Couture
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(PARIS) Christian Dior
While the who-will-it-be fracas continues at Dior, stand-in creative director Bill Gaytten shifted the brand's spotlight on Monday, to an earlier time when the house's buzz stemmed from its designs over its designer. Karlie Kloss opened the show, waltzing down the catwalk at the atelier's Avenue Montaigne salons in the brand's most widely covered creation in its 65-year history: the New Look, made popular in 1947 with post-war society debs fawning over the full-skirt and cinched waist silhouette. Gaytten riffed on the trademark retro cut while highlighting the house's artistry with a medley of lavish detailing including floral embroidery and ostrich paillettes, nostalgic corsetry and basting stitchwork—all atop floaty silk crepe and barely-there chiffon in beige, black and white, aubergine, and a splash of scarlet. Wearable? Sure. Pretty? Absolument! But, is it enough to secure Gaytten the top seat at the house?

Versace
When Donatella beckons, the stars appear. Diane Kruger, Cameron Diaz, Ludivine Sagnier, and Abbie Cornish flocked to Ecole des Beaux-Arts where the iconic Italian designer brought her atelier collection back to Paris after an eight-year hiatus. Editrixes packed in one by one (standing room only, darlings) while 15 lissome mods vogued on a metallic staircase in teetering warrior heels and eighties Vegas glam, from one-shouldered cocktail numbers to tightly tailored motos. On the long and lean side, slinky Aphrodite column gowns in acid green or gray Chantilly lace dazzled front and center with sculpted gold metal discs accentuating the hip or bust. But who could forget the ubiquitous flash of leg (a Versace must!)? This season, flash and sass came in the form of abbreviated tangerine minis and a futuristic yellow bodysuit.