Artists’ smocks and patchwork tapestry, Raf Simons brings architecture and the natural world into Dior Cruise 16 amidst the Bubble Palace.

Bubble Princesses:

Within the spherical confines of Antti Lovag and Pierre Bernard’s Bubble Palace, Simons’ girls took to the floor wearing designs inspired by their surroundings. Playing utilitarian looks off of traditional elegance, mismatched styles, textures and patterns merged. The Bubble Palace was built using architecture of the past but holds an entirely futuristic form, much like Simons’ reworking of fabrics into tapestries, building upon land, sky and seascape imagery.

Artist at work:

Not only using architecture as a key reference point, Simons’ took the uniform of the artist as a central shape for Cruise 16. Smocks were pleated softly and ballooned at the arms and waists were dropped splashed with a random rainbow of colours. Trousers were loose and relaxed in light materials which were a fixture throughout. Textures were built upon and thickened but as Simons explains, “It is not a heavy concept; it is light and young and there is a literal lightening of this clothing to make it fresh. Much of the design architecture comes from Mr Dior’s manteaux, his coats. But the heavy fabric is stripped away, the scale is played with and elements of their style are ‘collaged’ into other forms and garments.”

Top of the wishlist:

Those pointed toe boots to go with a patchy fur stole, metallic handbag and an orange, green and plum sleeveless checked cotton jacket with yellow and white gingham silk taffetas shorts.

Words: Lily Walker.