Dior's spring 2014 collection was inspired by the Petit Trianon, part of Marie Antoinette's private estate. From the Dior website: "Christian Dior's beloved monarch, a flower-woman painted in a palette of wild roses, reigns supreme over Spring 2014. The Trianon Collection is an ode to the 18th-century aesthetic so adored by the founder of the 30, avenue Montaigne maison. Powdery colors and Fontanges bows capture the magic of Versailles and the palace gardens in full bloom." Louis XVI bestowed the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette as a gift in 1775, who promptly overhauled the gardens surrounding it to suit her taste. In my opinion, the spirit of the Petit Trianon was best represented in the colors in this collection, which encapsulate the hues of the lush variety of blooms.
I got the eye shadow palette in Pink Pompadour. While Dior has utilized the bow motif many times before, I enjoyed the daintiness of this particular bow.
While there was no official Trianon theme for Dior's ready to wear spring 2014 fashion lineup, it was most certainly flower-focused. Dior Artistic Director Raf Simons created a garden of sorts on the runway, where models walked underneath a canopy of hanging flowers.
(images from style.com)
The flowers used in the Trianon collection's promo images are quite similar to the ones that adorned some of the dresses. Not only do the colors of the flowers match, they seem to be cut out and superimposed onto their respective backgrounds.
(images from backstage.dior.com)
Finally, the palette seen on the runway – pastels offset by hints of more vibrant shades – directly corresponds to the colors of the Trianon collection.
(image from style.com)
But what about those delicate little bows that were embossed on all the powder-based items from the Trianon collection? Well, they may not have made an appearance in the ready-to-wear show, but they did peek out from the models' necks and hands at the couture show.
(images from style.com)
Thus there was some overlap with the couture collection as well as the ready-to-wear.
While I appreciate the attempt to use Dior's fascination with Marie Antoinette and her private estate as the springboard for the Trianon collection, ultimately I didn't find it to be all that creative, especially since a garden-themed collection has been done before and with a much more meaningful foundation: the spring 2012 Garden Party collection, which took the designer's magnificent childhood home and gardens as its inspiration. The Trianon collection certainly had a nice selection of spring-appropriate colors, but the overall expression of the theme was lacking.
What did you think of this collection?