Dior presents cruise fashions amid stars

MONACO - The Associated Press

Christian Dior fashion house presented the collection for 2014. AFP photo

The glittering star power of Cannes migrated up the coast to Monaco for front-row seats at Dior’s colorful, sexy cruise fashion show.

With the Mediterranean Sea the picturesque backdrop, Dior showcased its 2014 collection on May 18 night. It was a wet, cold and generally miserable outside the white stage, but Raf Simons’ designs provided the shimmering summery lift for the evening.

Among those on hand were Oscar-winner and Dior spokeswoman Marion Cotillard, actresses Ruth Wilson and Jessica Biel, and Prince Albert of Monaco, along with his fashionable wife, Princess Charlene.

Before the show, Biel called Dior’s fashions beautiful, saying she also appreciated them because they were made for real woman. If that was the case, such women are dynamic gazelles who even in their downtime have multiple agendas. There were sheer lace cover-ups, brightly colored dresses, and jackets and coats made of wool.
 
In press materials provided at the show, Simons explained his inspiration to prominently feature lace in the collection.
 
“I never worked with lace before,” he said. “It was about transforming the meaning of the material; not romantic, not historical, to something light, playful.