This month Dior chose to show its Pre-Fall 2015 collection in Tokyo, transforming the local sumo stadium into an “urban landscape abstraction” with falling snow and pipe grid structure. Mirroring these elements in the collection, creative director Raf Simons presented a line of womenswear that drew its inspiration from futuristic themes, citing the movie Blade Runner, Tokyo street fashion and sixties-era Paco Rabamme as his muses. The resulting collection was a successful blend of lady-like outerwear—strong and functional, but undeniable feminine. He creates a playful juxtaposition between the two with sparkling layers peeking through utilitarian coats and jackets.
Though only his second time showing away from Paris, Simons drew a crowd of fashion elite including Audrey Tautou, Leandra Medine, Hanneli Mustaparta and LVMH chairman and chief executive, Bernard Arnault. A fan of Japan, Simons has traveled to the country numerous times since 1995, and over the years has found a connection with that fashion and culture that he wanted to explore in his latest collection. “I thought about Tokyo in relation to high fashion. I thought it always had something architecturally futuristic [about it]. Also, if I think about the design that comes from here — you know, like Rei [Kawakubo] and Yohji [Yamamoto] and [Issey] Miyake and all of these people — I thought it was interesting to innovate, take that all into account without going there,” Simons told WWD. “It’s the complete Dior shape and language, but then it has aspects that come in that we didn’t really explore before.”
