Christian Dior: Pre-Fall 2013

Raf Simons gave us a peek into the inspired laboratory that is his creative process.  

Shot within the house’s atelier as Simons’s team of seamstresses and tailors sculpted muslin masterpieces in the background, the edited assortment featured nods to the couture artistry of draping and pattern-making. Exaggerated black styling-tape accents traced the spiraling seams of a floral photo-printed cocktail-dress, while a swath of grey flannel–positioned to cascade off a model’s right hip–looked freshly cut from the mill’s bolt. The refinement factor was by no means spared though; houndstooth and Prince of Wales motifs were magnified to Trigere-worthy scales, yielding bold visual rhythms within the collection’s sportswear range.

The “ladyness” of it all was cemented in the perfection of a double-breasted riding coat in slate-grey melange wool, and the confection of a bowed-ballskirt in pamplemousse-rose duchess satin.