Ensemble
The first ready-to-wear collection of Raf Simons for the French house of Christian Dior for spring/summer 2013, featured a programmatic intent on the side of the Belgian designer known for his minimalism and architectural silhouettes. Simons respectfully looked at the modern heritage of the house and presented his own take on Dior’s New Look or “Corolle” line dated 1947. Simons kept the upper part of the corseted silhouette but cut the wide bouffant skirts off. This little black dress in wool hence looks like it has been cut off from the side seam, and its chiffon lining is spilling out, making the gesture of the scissors’ cut still palpable. By staging this dramatic couture ‘faux-pas’, Simons hence deconstructs some of the rigid distinctions between daywear and eveningwear, between couture and ready-to-wear, between the old and the new.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ensemble
- Design House: House of Dior (French, founded 1946)
- Designer: Raf Simons (Belgian, born 1968)
- Date: spring/summer 2013
- Culture: French
- Medium: wool, silk, polyamide, elastane, leather, metal
- Credit Line: Gift of Christian Dior Couture, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.616.2a–c
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Multiple artists/makers
fall/winter 1961–62
House of Dior
Marc Bohan
1980s
House of Dior
Christian Dior
spring/summer 1955
House of Dior
Gianfranco Ferré
spring/summer 1993
House of Dior
Gianfranco Ferré
1990–97
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