If there's one word that's overused in fashion it's "chic". The word, however, genuinely sums up that modern attitude of a Dior show and the Dior woman right now. No longer just the epitome of French elegance and femininity, under artistic director Raf Simons that spirit has been reworked into
Paris Fashion Week: The Raf Remix at Dior

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Dior Spring/Summer 2015. Picture / AP Images
Those embroidered Marie Antoinette-inspired pannier coats from the last couture presentation have been reworked in shorter lengths with a freer shape away from the body and worn with cool skater shorts and boots that have a hand-knitted overlay. There are plenty of dresses too, some of the best are deceptively simple. A brown silk and wool sheath dress with button-up pockets exaggerated at the hips and worn with a white knitted silk top underneath is a perfect example of elegant restraint. But it is the billowing white cotton shirt dresses with high collars that make a particular impact, reminiscent of crisp Edwardian smock dresses. In a season of plenty of sexy (Balmain, Versace, Altuzarra) and layered Japonism (Loewe, Marni) it is reassuring to see the single layer of a white summer dress can still make an impact.
"It is an idea of confronting what people now think is an aesthetic that is modern - it felt more modern to go to the far past, not the 'modernised' look of the last decade," writes Simons, "The challenge is to bring the attitude of contemporary reality to something very historical; bringing the easiness to something that can be perceived as theatrical. It is the attitude that matters."
Those reflections on the past are what keeps the designer going, and as guests exit the mirrored tent at the Cour Carree du Louvre, their reflections stare back at them with the ancient grandeur of the Louvre in the backdrop. A fitting yin-yang of the past meeting the present, an optical illusion that eschews any historical accuracy. But then Simons won't have it any other way.
• Dior will open its Auckland flagship store on Queen St in December.
See the full collection presented in Paris here:


















































Image 1 of 50: Dior SS 2015. Picture / Supplied
- VIVA