Fashionistas living in or passing through London may want to check out the Dior extravaganza currently on at Harrods for roughly a month. In my case, though, there is something else I would like to check out, the unrevealed links between Dior and architecture.
On Dior's site, Christian Dior’s Creative Director Raf Simons states about his A/W 2012 Haute Couture collection, "Mr Dior was a supreme architect of pattern. He could construct something so perfect and yet he would often throw in a gesture on purpose to break that perfection. He would make what he did human for the wearer. You could tell he loved women in that way, in that incredible gestural way." The official statement on Simons' Haute Couture debut collection for Dior also highlights the architectural connections in Dior's "New Look" silhouettes and the French designer's architectural approach in the construction of his clothing.
The Dior and architecture connection I would like to know more about involves Italian-born but Brazil-based architect Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992; a figure we will gradually be rediscovering on this site). The only connection I have found is this image portraying Lina Bo Bardi (second on the right) at a fashion show that took place in 1951 at the Museu de Arte in São Paulo, Brazil. In the picture Bo Bardi is portrayed with a few fashion models showcasing Dior's creations (I'm not sure Bo Bardi actually ever met Dior).
It would be interesting to know if at Dior's archives they have more materials about this event or on Bo Bardi's thoughts about Dior's designs. I'm particularly interested in the fact that what Simons says about Dior - the fact that he created such perfect things and then he would throw in something that would break that perfection - could also be said about Bo Bardi's works and this could therefore be a good research point for an interesting comparison.
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