Now that Raf has, in a remarkably short space of time, made the classic Dior icons very much his own, he seems to be struggling to inject them with a sense of his other engagements as he morphs his minimalist sensibility to a House with a maximalist legacy.
Evoking the passing of the seasons, Simons started out with the last traces of winter in the form of elegant ice-blue and black evening dresses or a midnight blue tuxedo. From there, the collection began -- quite literally -- to burst into life, blooming with exquisite multi-layered flower embroideries, until finally the full flower arrangements of mid summer blossomed on balloon-backed dresses.
'There is a sense of the collection growing and changing from where we started with the Couture last season,' said Simons, who looked the picture of calm backstage. 'Yet still always with a sense of continuity and reality for the wearer.'