How do you end a chapter of headline-making comings and goings and suspenseful whispers? If you're Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux, the duo who has been Dior's acting creative directors for the past year, you create a collection dedicated to the very thing that has been powering the house through the madness: the atelier. If recent reports are to be believed, Valentino's co-artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri will be taking the helm of the historic Parisian house, kicking off a new chapter. But today, Meier and Ruffieux gave the world another reminder that through the John Gallianos and the Raf Simons of the world, the brand's prestigious atelier remains. Here, the key talking points from the show.
1) It all starts with the Bar
That's not hugely surprising considering the iconic nipped waist jacket and voluminous skirt is as important to Dior as the tweed suit is to Chanel. There's a reason we've seen so many interpretations of both over the years. When done well, they sell. For the couture season, Meier and Ruffieux updated the classic bar suit with pretty dancerly skirts that were youthful counterpoints to the very grownup, embellished jackets they came paired with. But to be frank, the most memorable and modern looks were the ones that came without all the beading and appliqués, which at times put the dresses and jackets on the earnest side of old-fashioned (it's hard to make a beaded suit jacket look young.)
2) Colour takes a hiatus
Gone are the pinks and aquamarines of aw16, replaced by a stark colour palette of black and white. It's a combination Christian himself has raved about: 'White is simple, pure and goes with everything. And I could write a whole book about black.'
3) It's all about a flat
The models wore them with everything — floaty chiffon, pleated taffeta, tailored wool, you name it — and made a case for retiring your nighttime stilettos once and for all.
4) Bella Hadid walked
It was her first time appearing on a Dior catwalk in her role as new ambassador for the brand.
5) And Marion Cotillard, Celine Dion and Olivia Palermo were there
