Gaytten drops Dior hemline in ballet-style show
PARIS (AP) — To slightly underwhelming applause it was, again, "interim" designer Bill Gaytten who closed Dior's ready-to-wear show Friday in a playing-it-safe balletic display of lowered 1950s hemlines that missed the exuberance of January's couture offering.
With reports his contract would end in May, the fall-winter collection was meant to be the designer's last. But the talk of the front row was whether Dior might keep him on for another year.
Swan song or no, "Swan Lake" could have characterized the show: Balletic-high waistlines topped a new, longer-length skirt with knife-edged pleats and a more structured silhouette.
Some of the looks got it just right, like a skintight eggplant silk sweater that resembled a dancer's leotard, on an embroidered silk skirt in violet that fluttered past like tulip petals.
The sex appeal was also turned up in the odd play of sheer paneling on the house's signature 1950s gowns, in blushed nudes and inky jewel tones, that are shaping this fall's look.
That Gaytten chose Karlie Kloss — the 6-foot ballet-dancer-turned-supermodel — to close the show was a playful touch.
However, given this is ready-to-wear, the ground-bound hemlines — mid-calf or floor-length on the catwalks — would likely drown out the a normal woman's body.
