Dior Show Starts with Statement, Ends with Seamstresses
Photo: Getty Images
Dior’s Sidney Toledano made a statement before models walked the Fall 2011 runway.
The clothes may have been pure John Galliano, but at the Dior Fall 2011 show, chief executive Sidney Toledano made a speech to distance the fashion house from the troubled designer.
“It has been deeply painful to see the Dior name associated with the disgraceful statements attributed to its designer, however brilliant he may be,” Toledano told the fashionable attendees at the start of the show.
“What happened last week has been a terrible and wrenching ordeal for us all. So now, more than ever, we must publicly recommit to the values of the House of Dior. What you are going to see now is the result of the extraordinary, creative and marvelous efforts of these loyal, hardworking people.”
To demonstrate that last point, the label’s “petites mains”—around 40 seamstresses and craftsmen wearing white coats—stormed the stage in lieu of Galliano’s signature costumed bow at the show’s finale. The resulting standing ovation spoke volumes.
Photo: Getty Images
In lieu of Galliano’s bow, seamstresses and craftsmen came out at the end of Dior’s Fall 2011 show.
