All About Floral at Christian Dior

A luscious hanging garden at Paris's Musée Rodin set the scene for the Christian Dior Spring 2014 presentation on Friday. It may seem like an obvious theme, but even the very best of designers think "florals" when it comes to the summer collections -- a trend that is so constant it’s perhaps unfair to continue to refer to it as a trend.

“This collection is the idea of twisting, turning, and pushing Dior, where the lyrically romantic becomes dangerous; a beautiful rose garden becomes poisonous,” explains Raf Simons in the press notes of his approach. As such classic shirting was twisted to mold to the body, cropped jackets were deconstructed, knits hung open at the back, and the fabric on pleated skirts was cut-away at the hip (for those brave enough). The strongest looks were the chic candy cane-striped peplum dresses and the suiting -- those black cigarette pants and Simons’s rendition bar jacket were spot on.

It was a dynamic collection and an evolution from previous seasons, with the best moments actually coming from the finale -- stunning silver jacquard dresses, covered in delicate flowers. They offered a re-cap of Simons’s relatively short tenure and served as a reminder of what the designer has achieved thus far.