A legendary American fashion designer once said that the secret of his success was that he designed dreams, not dresses. So it was entirely appropriate that while the rest of Paris lay under a thick blanket of snow, the Christian Dior haute couture show took place in a spring garden, with models weaving between boxwood hedges and lush trees.
This was the third major Dior womenswear collection by Raf Simons, who was appointed to the helm of Dior last year. It began with four strapless, full-skirted dresses, distinctively Dior both in silhouette and in their demure femininity. These were followed by two black trouser suits cut in a modern take on the house's signature tailoring. The appliquéd flowers, tulle veiling, hand-painted silks showcased the talents of the haute couture ateliers, while the colour palette – a blue dress highlighted with yellow, an unexpected pair of lime tights – kept a tightly 21st century handle on this fashion fairytale.
Simons's strategy for Dior is a stark contrast to that of his predecessor, John Galliano. The latter's technique for keeping Dior's name in the fashion conversation was to present each collection as a self-contained piece of unmissable fashion theatre. Simons is taking an opposite approach: each collection is a consecutive instalment in the story he wants to tell about Christian Dior. This collection picked up on the floral theme of Simons's first couture show last July, and elaborated on themes developed in the ready-to-wear collection shown last October.
The Dior story, as told by Simons for a modern audience, embraces the fragrant femininity associated with the house, but draws out other themes from the history of the house, which have lapsed from fashion's attention-span-challenged consciousness. Crucially, the architectural lines of the Bar jacket and other key Dior pieces are presented anew. Proportions are cropped and acid colours added, so that the effect is rich in fashion heritage, rather than retro.
The renewed energy around the house of Dior was reflected by a high-powered front row. Sigourney Weaver, Rosamund Pike and Jessica Alba represented Dior's status as a serious red carpet contender, while the presence of Valérie Trierweiler and Bernadette Chirac reflected Dior's iconic cultural status in Paris.
