Cruising: Inside Our Dior Shoot at Blenheim Castle

A season of print, bright colours and wondrous embroidery

By Annabelle Fernandez - published 15 Nov 2016

Wanderlust was one of the springboards from which Dior’s Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux spun a collection filled with emblems both traditional and new; familiar and foreign.

It made perfect sense, given how the origins of the cruise season are deeply rooted in the idea of travel. Once a small collection that pandered to the jet-set who needed five maillots, 10 silk caftans and 15 billowing dresses for sailing around the warmer seas, it has expanded into full-fledged fashion extravaganzas with major fashion houses upping their showmanship by staging bigger and more elaborate spectacles in different parts of the world.

Such was the case for Dior. The choice setting, after last season’s Le Palais Bulles on the French Riviera, was England’s Blenheim Palace. The significance for this historic location was two-pronged: Firstly, Blenheim Palace—the birthplace of Winston Churchill—is one of the many beacons of “Englishness” besides the Union Jack, making it the perfect setting for a collection touted as a creative “conversation between France and England.” In addition, the majestic castle and its picturesque grounds hark back to the storied history of the Maison, having been the setting for two of Dior’s past haute couture presentations—once under its eponymous founder and another under his protégé, Yves Saint Laurent.

In a nutshell, the collection was an exercise in English elegance seen through the lens of Dior’s timeless codes, modernised by ex-Creative Director Raf Simons and now further examined by the design duo and the studio. English tweeds and scenes of an idyllic English countryside life found their way onto jackets and dresses. Puff-sleeved dresses in plush velvets and rich silks further underscored

the travel theme by mixing prints lifted from African and Asian cultures. What you see in this spread speaks of an adventurous, worldly viewpoint; rich in vibrant silks, decorated brocades, cool shoes and hip bags.

By Gerald Tan

Photographed by Sonny Vandevelde

Styled by Kenneth Goh

Styling assistant: Emily Attrill