Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2011 Runway Review

One of the biggest questions surrounding the 2011 Fall Couture shows was who would take the finale bow at Christian Dior. The answer came on the first day when Bill Gaytten and Susanna Venegas, the studio director and his first assistant, walked out. Unfortunately, Cathy Horyn summarized the show best when she noted, "All sorts of weird vibes, along with a lack of design leadership, have a way of surfacing in clothes. A runway is like a shrink’s couch; stuff just comes out."

Couture pieces from the most avant garde design houses like Dior and Gaultier always walk a fine line between art that women and celebrities would stun in, and costume, and this season at the house of Dior it veered too much towards the latter. Much of that, however, had to do with the way the show was styled. The accessories included cubes and balls embedded in the models’ hair, cone-like party hats, and confetti-esque details. In fact, for the finale, glitter fell from above as Karlie Kloss walked in a layered ball gown. The other half of the show's disappointment came as a result of too many jumbled colors. Why not let the beautiful details and techniques speak for themselves?

The show was inspired by architecture (think Ettore Sottsass), which does explain the hair accessories to some extent, but it's a pity Gaytten and his team didn't stick to the more streamlined aspects of architecture. Overly colorful and frou-frou, the collection often had a dated 80s feel that was redeemed only by the makeup and hair looks created by Pat McGrath and Guido Palau.

Images: Imaxtree.