My Pen-Pal asked me today what I thought of Raf Simons placement as the creative director for Dior.
Quite frankly. I am not happy about this. I was rooting for Bill Gaytten.
I will try and not be biased here, but you must know John Galliano is amongst my top 3 favorite designers - and Bill Gaytten was his right hand man. It should also be mentioned, that Gaytten must be extremely loyal to Galliano as they worked together for so many years. He also currently holds the roll of creative director for John Galliano, and I do believe this is where he wants to be. I just wanted to make this clear because of all the pity party surrounding him due to the "loss" of the Dior position (so my proposition of keeping him at Dior is not really a probable one, because I do not think he wanted to stay there- but here goes my analysis anyway )...
Brief history on Gaytten:
Actually an architect, Gaytten has been playing "second fiddle" to John Galliano for a few years now, and he took over as creative director for Dior when the whole anti-Semitic debacle went down. Although he did have a rough patch in the beginning, and was highly criticized when he debuted his first collections, we must admit he has a strong learning curve. Not only did he take the reigns as creative director for Dior and John Galliano simultaneously, his collections got really good, really fast. Although he claims this situation "was forced upon him", you have got to commend the double duty.
Dior FW2012 took the brand back to its starting point. It is a classic collection reminiscent of Dior's early years.
Although the reaction to this last collection has not been good, I have a pretty good explanation for it. The general criticism is that Gaytten did not do the past collections justice, making this one too simple. My reaction? Well of course he made it simple! He is also the creative director of John Galliano and needs to design for that brand as well. Dior is originally classy and elegant. The edge belongs to John Galliano. Gaytten gave to each their own.
The only criticism I would have for the John Galliano FW2012 designs is that as I take a look at Gayttens collection below, I could have sworn Galliano designed it himself.
So this brings up the point, how original is Gaytten?
I would still have to say he is pretty good. After all, these are his creations, and both FW2012 collections for Dior and John Galliano are completely different.
I commend you Bill.
Having said all that- Dior will never go back to the Galliano Golden Ages. The best it could have done was stick with Gaytten (although as I mentioned previously, this is not a realistic scenario as I am not sure he would have wanted to).
Galliano's genius cannot be competed with. The femininty, edge and bad-assness of Dior will now be forever gone. So everyone has to stop complaining and embrace Dior for what it is.
I will try and not be biased here, but you must know John Galliano is amongst my top 3 favorite designers - and Bill Gaytten was his right hand man. It should also be mentioned, that Gaytten must be extremely loyal to Galliano as they worked together for so many years. He also currently holds the roll of creative director for John Galliano, and I do believe this is where he wants to be. I just wanted to make this clear because of all the pity party surrounding him due to the "loss" of the Dior position (so my proposition of keeping him at Dior is not really a probable one, because I do not think he wanted to stay there- but here goes my analysis anyway )...
Brief history on Gaytten:
Actually an architect, Gaytten has been playing "second fiddle" to John Galliano for a few years now, and he took over as creative director for Dior when the whole anti-Semitic debacle went down. Although he did have a rough patch in the beginning, and was highly criticized when he debuted his first collections, we must admit he has a strong learning curve. Not only did he take the reigns as creative director for Dior and John Galliano simultaneously, his collections got really good, really fast. Although he claims this situation "was forced upon him", you have got to commend the double duty.
Dior FW2012 took the brand back to its starting point. It is a classic collection reminiscent of Dior's early years.
Although the reaction to this last collection has not been good, I have a pretty good explanation for it. The general criticism is that Gaytten did not do the past collections justice, making this one too simple. My reaction? Well of course he made it simple! He is also the creative director of John Galliano and needs to design for that brand as well. Dior is originally classy and elegant. The edge belongs to John Galliano. Gaytten gave to each their own.
DIOR SS 1947
DIOR 1949
DIOR FW 1949
DIOR SS 1951
Dior FW2012 by Bill Gaytten
 |
| Elegant, simple but definitely couture. Just like original Dior. |
So this brings up the point, how original is Gaytten?
I would still have to say he is pretty good. After all, these are his creations, and both FW2012 collections for Dior and John Galliano are completely different.
I commend you Bill.
John Galliano FW2012 by Bill Gaytten
 |
| Doing his mentor proud. |
Galliano's genius cannot be competed with. The femininty, edge and bad-assness of Dior will now be forever gone. So everyone has to stop complaining and embrace Dior for what it is.
Dior FW 2010 by John Galliano
Dior FW2011 by John Galliano
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