gown report: christian dior

the christian dior a/w 2009 was beautiful in design and oriental in theme, but the gowns of the collection particularly stood out this season. never have i seen a confabulation of swarovski crystals, ruched chiffon and (gasp) jewel tones executed so effectively. according to style.com, house designer john galliano was apparently "lightly based on the orientalism of Paul Poiret, an artistic Parisian craze dating back almost a century". poiret's designs were sensational in the 20's and 30's, and his contributions are compared by european vogue editor-at-large hamish bowles to the contributions picasso made to 20th century art. needless to say, galliano is certainly a century-defining designer in his own right, as evidenced below.

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