John Galliano turned to Rene Gruau for inspiration, the iconic illustrator’s pale tones, watercolors and charcoal lines shaped into 3-dimensional form in what was a startling beautiful collection. The odes to the ’50s spirit of the masters Avedon, Penn and Suzy Parker were all there but, as always, modernized and made ever-more glamorous. From the first look on Karlie Kloss, you knew this collection was going to be saturated with brilliant color: shades of burnt red and black, blues, whites and pinks and greens, not to mention delicate shades of brown only Galliano could create. And they were poured, much like expensive paint, onto sumptuous little puffy suit jackets and pencil skirts and explosive meringue silk and tulle–layered into degrades like sketches–eveningwear. Talk about a peplum pop! The exaggerated shapes of the tops–the nipped-waist bar jacket was sublime–were tamed only by the slim, sleek silhouette of a classic Dior pencil skirt. As for the gowns, well grandiose doesn’t even begin to describe them! Galliano allowed every kind of girl to indulge in fantasy, from the over-the-top full-skirted princesses to the demure and intimidating columns (fully embroidered, natch). The incredibly glamorous white ostrich strapless bubble gown peppered with touches of pink and green will look fabulous at the Oscars–are you listening Natalie Portman?–with its forgiving proportions.
