WEST MEETS EAST

Christian Dior Resort 2011

Dior made its runway debut in Shanghai on Saturday night with a sixties-chic Cruise collection inspired by the French New Wave. In the front row were house muses Charlize Theron and Marion Cotillard. They joined LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, Dior CEO Sidney Toledano, and some 500 guests in a 150-meter Dior gray tent constructed along the Huangpu River in the historic colonial district the Bund, not far from the site where Chanel put on its pre-fall show last December.

On his third visit to China since 2002, designer John Galliano made it clear that this was not to be a dose of chinoiserie à la Dior. "I didn't really want to do 'China' at all. Not only because I have done that, but because I didn't think it was appropriate," the designer said. "I just thought it would be really fierce, really cool, to present le savoir faire français." And that he did, with a savvy blend of ready-to-wear and couture. "I was just trying to recapture that excitement that was happening at that time in Paris, which is very similar to what is happening in Shanghai today," he said.

After a sneak preview of the Lady Blue Shanghai film directed by David Lynch and starring Cotillard, the show started with a flash of lights and dance music mixed with live accompaniment by the Shanghai Sinfonietta.




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