One Giant Step for Man, One Small Leap for Mankind

August, 5 2006 – When Neil Armstrong uttered his now-famous words in 1969, it was the lame president Richard Nixon that got a PR boost, all the way from the moon. It’s hard to imagine who got a lift when John Galliano appeared dressed as a NASA astronaut at the end of the Dior couture show last July in Paris. One thing is certain, however, and it is that the ever-expanding gowns at Dior couture have become so enormous that it takes two assistants to hoist models up onto the catwalk. Usually the girls can only go one direction once they are put in motion – and that act appears to defy gravity. What a blast!

Since none of the clothes are actually intended to be worn, it’s also hard to figure out how fashion gets a boost. Despite the magical work of the petits mains at the couture atelier, and the creative, if outlandish, designs of Galliano, the shows are staged, less as a tribute to artistic finesse, than as window dressing to help spotlight the financially lucrative Dior Ready-to-Wear, accessory and perfume lines.

– Timothy Hagy