Dior Cruise Collection: Brooklyn, Rihanna, and More Ugly Shoes
Major fashion shows and Brooklyn are officially a thing. The trend started when Alexander Wang showed his latest namesake collection in February in the outer borough, and now Christian Dior has followed suit, showing its Cruise 2015 collection at the same spot, the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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Guests of the show, held last night, first headed to the venue over the East River via Dior branded water taxis, and were greeted on the other side with waiters wearing nautical themed Dior jackets baring champagne amidst Dior beach chairs and an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. Not a bad way to kick off a fashion show.
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Everyone from Rihanna, to Margot Robbie, to Allison Williams, to Marion Cotillard was in attendance for the runway spectacle, construction for which reportedly took over a week.
Rihanna pontificated to Women’s Wear Daily of her Brooklyn adventure saying: “You know what, I spent most of my summers in Brooklyn. All my life, I grew up coming to Brooklyn. My late grandma and my granddad lived in Brooklyn. He still lives here. So I do make it to Brooklyn a bit whether it’s to see the game or to see my family…But now I’m here for fashion, so this is definitely different.”
The set for the show felt decidedly paired back for Dior, a white runway with a mirrored backdrop. And the clothes were purposely buyer friend. Dior’s Creative Director Raf Simons used the silk scarf as a jumping off point for the collection which included artist prints, organza paneled dresses, high-waisted trousers, and even a take on the ugly shoe trend (Raf’s version are Teva-like sports sandals with scarf straps).
Prints, which were the standout in the collection, were sourced either from the house’s archives, or created especially for this collection.
While it certainly won’t go down in the books as Dior’s most memorable collection, the wearability of the clothes reflects just how important these pre-collections have become to fashion houses—generally comprising 70 to 85 percent of a design houses’ sales figures. These clothes are meant to end up on someone’s back, not on a magazine cover, and that they definitely will. Here’s to hoping Dior decides to sell those beach chairs to match.
