A silhouette from Dior Couture Spring-Summer 2012. Credit: Christian Dior.

The House of Dior has had ups and downs since its creation by genius Christian Dior in 1946, going through the expert hands of Yves Saint Laurent, and recently shaken by the Galliano scandal. Now who to succeed the tormented talent of John? Many speculations have been made, rumours spread and finally, after two full fashion seasons, no announcement yet made.

Meanwhile, prêt-à-porter, accessories and couture have kept appearing on the catwalk and in stores, pretty as ever, with at the head of the Atelier: Bill Gaytten, Mr Galliano’s right hand for his entire career, keeping the business going and the minds dreaming. And he has done a rather good job at it.

Just look at the latest collection. Couture in all its splendour – check. Codes of la Maison respected and honoured – check. Glamour to the max, Petites mains working hard on those fabrics and sequins, red-carpet material – check, check, check.

Sometimes, what you are looking for is in front of your eyes and too obvious to see. He might be backstage, but one cannot miss Bill Gaytten’s undeniable talent. No need to look further for a new candidate – he is already at the post.

It’s the time of the Cruise ready-to-wear 2012 collections. You know, the ones that make everyone feel frustrated because when you go and do your Christmas shopping, there’s only bikinis around, and when you are just about catching with the Autumn-Winter trends and finally want to buy cashmere tights, your favourite boutiques only stock hotpants, sandals and sunglasses.

Usually at this time of year, I gasp at the latest fur capes and wow at the delight of suede boots, while practising my mince pie-making and browsing for silver and crystal decorations on the first floor of Fortnum’s.

But this year is different. Since I have seen the Portofino Dior film, booked my December holiday to Barbados and had blonde highlights in my hair, all I want for Christmas… is my own Cruise collection!

Credit: Stunning Monika Jagaciak in Dior Cruise 2012 – all images on Dior’s Facebook here and the stunning film by genial Ellen von Unwerth here.

From pastel sketches to oil paintings, from ink caricature drawings to watercolour illustrations and even glass mosaics, I saw the most vivid play on light, colour and characters’ expressions. The artist’s favourite subjects were portraits of society and daily life, social events such as opera, balls, café scenes and horse-races, depicting the true nature, traits and morals of characters.

Nicknamed Gavroche by the most important writers and poets of the time Rimbaud and Verlaine, Jean-Louis Forain developed aesthetics inspired by his contemporaries Degas and Renoir and blended impressionism with post-expressionism in a effortless art, and inspired others to follow up in his steps, such as Toulouse-Lautrec.

But his main specialty was his engaged art, denouncing unfair trials and situations of society, prostitution and reporting on the 1914-18 war.

A great highlight on an artist who definitely deserves to be more recognised and re-discovered. Kudos to the Petit Palais for that.

Image credit: Jean-Louis Forain, Au Théâtre, 1882.

As I was watching tennis champions play at Roland-Garros in Paris this weekend, something became clearer to me.

Fashion likes sport. Many fashionable pieces have been traditionally inspired by sports: horse-riding outfits, military jackets while riding, riding boots, sports shorts, tank tops, lighter materials like jersey, bright colours, etc. Fashion crowds also favour social sport events such as polos, races and luxury brands nowadays sponsors every possible sports tournaments.

On the other hand, it is difficult to look stylish while playing sports, every fashionista will know that – hence the new hybrid designer brands such as Stella McCartney for Adidas. But eventually, it is in the individual’s DNA. Look at French tennis player Mathilde Johansson: a black bodycon miniskirt, a simple classic “Breton” marinière and an effortless bun. French chic at its best. Nothing else to add.

Mathilde Johansson at Roland-Garros 2011. Photography by Alizé Morand. Please credit.

Did you know for example that he did graffiti art to reference May 68 in Paris? Or that he burnt some his canvases and presented the pieces with huge holes inside half of the paintings? That his earlier works were very figurative landscapes? That he did sculpture, even?

The Ladder of Escape exhibition retraces his evolution as an artist, and most of all, focuses on his political engagement. Indeed most of his works were direct products of what was happening in the world at the time, from WW2 to his exile to France from Spain under Franco’s regime – à la Guernica.

It also shows the unlimited imagination and poetic vision of an artist André Breton, leader of the Surrealist movement, used to call “the most surreal of us all”.

My favourite part is perhaps Room 10 of the exhibition, which displays two large-scale triptychs, influenced by the American Abstract Expressionism movement at the time. The vivid blues, red and orange of the pieces on grand scale are particularly hypnotising and it is no surprise these works were received to great acclaim in Paris at the time. More surprising then – is that they are not more known nowadays. It is therefore a great opportunity to see them at the Tate.

Picture credits: Dog Barking at the Moon, Joan Miró, 1926.

This was also a special day for the fashion world – after months of speculation about the dress, the final outfit(s) didn’t disappoint: the talented right-hand of genius Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, created the impossible. Classic yet modern, flattering yet royal-friendly, breathtaking yet understated, the dress was all a Princess of our times could ever dream of. And that white lace: spot-on Spring-Summer 2011 trend!

But personally, it is the less photographed, more secret, but nonetheless fabulous evening dress Kate wore for the reception that made me dream and sigh with envy, admiration and lust. That full-on strapless white satin gazar number with a circle skirt and crystallised diamanté belt was the epitome of class, glamour and timeless chic to me.

I am sure this wedding made every woman on the planet dream: who wouldn’t want to be a princess? But certainly it is the brides-to-be that have been the most touched by the event, and we all know it is wedding season. So what are the trends for 2011 brides? White lace indeed, but also nude touches, bright accessories, were we told last fashion week. But from now on and for many years to come, anything resembling McQueen will be on the fashionable bride agenda too, and I look forward to seeing royalty translated into reality.

All this talks about wedding leads me to tell you about a little project that I have been involved with recently. My lovely French friend Anne-Laure, who herself married her longtime love in style, just launched her wedding planning agency in London, with a French touch: Et Voilà. And I will be contributing as Style Advisor for trendy brides-to-be. So have a look at her new website and read my interview on the best Wedding Accessories of the moment on the agency’s blog here!

The Danish designer worked on a collection inspired by the colonial memory of his home country and national identity, history and traditions. He revealed to me backstage: “I was pretty shocked about how little I knew and how little I was told in school, and how romanticised it had been told. I realised clothing is how you express yourself and I wanted to create a new tribe. In the world today, it’s important to remember we are all the same people, we all have the same emotions, and especially in the young generation there is a lot of ignorance, and people don’t want to take the time to understand. I am very engaged with my work.”

Although he did not win, I wanted to highlight his work – particularly his incredible craftsmanship with Swarovski crystals on headpieces and accessories, all of which sadly did not make it into the final show, but were to me the strength of Mads’ collection.

He explained his inspiration for the pieces: “I didn’t want to work with really young models, I want people with personality, so I thought the masks would be a great way to bring that, but in fact it was a little too much with the clothes so I decided to keep the masks separate. One mask takes around 2 weeks to make, and includes around 2,000 hand-sewn crystals so the team were quite disappointed we didn’t use them for the show!”

Photography by Alizé Morand. Please credit. 

In a short interview backstage, Céline told me about her background working first with Alexander McQueen at Givenchy, then Felipe Oliveira Baptista before moving on to be the “Second (senior seamstress) of Atelier” at none less than Galliano and Balenciaga.

For her collection, the French designer focused on the underrated fabric jaconas, usually used for fittings only, and made the most of its muslim-like transparency to construct origami sculpted white dresses. She explained her inspiration to me: “The collection is an encounter with a fabric. I always loved fittings, I found it magic, it is when you discover sketches, the construction of the dress, it is a beautiful moment. Jaconas is what you use for test-clothes: it is pure garment and construction.”

“I come from behind-the-scenes, the workshop. I am one of those people you never see.” Just like her signature fabric, Céline Méteil moved from backstage to the catwalk, from behind-the-scenes to the spotlight, and it is a place that suits her well and where we really hope to see more of her in the future.

Photography by Alizé Morand. Please credit. 

The jury, presided by designer Raf Simons this year – along with Christopher Kane, Proenza Schouler and Tim Blanks, to name a few – awarded the young French designer with the coveted Grand Prix du Jury this year which comes with a 15,000€ L’Oréal Prize.

Léa’s collection was inspired by darkness – cemeteries in particular, but romanticised and described as “the absurd beauties of the end of life and the confusing places who give a strong and mysterious atmosphere.”

In contrast to the concept of death and the dark veils of her models; came the lightness of chiffon, the soft shades of pale green and sepia pink, the delicate embroidery of sequins, the sheer laces and silks, the craftsmanship of detail.

Remarkable both in aesthetics and in technique, it is no wonder that the work of Léa won the Jury over. After stints at Givenchy, Maison Martin Margiela, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Chloé, it is time for Léa to fly with her own wings and bring poetry to couture.

Photography by Alizé Morand. Please credit. 

Amidst the usual YBA-inspired pieces of cardboard, Sellotape, bin liners and plasticine statues, I noticed a few artworks that attracted my attention, whether or not we remember them in a few years’ time.

The names I would like to highlight are William Daniels – oil paintings so textured they look like they are made of clay, paper or foil – Tasha Amini – a modern and romantic vision playing with space and pastel panels -Robert Fry – modern Bacon with diluted body parts - Maaike Schoorel – hardly-there oil sketches of silhouettes. Entirely personal selection.

But the one that stayed in my mind weeks after I first visited Newspeak is Steve Bishop and his taxidermied animals morphed in concrete oversized designer perfume bottles. The hybrids bear the fashionable names of Christian Dior or Jean-Paul Gaultier, in reference to the fragrance used for the shape of the statues.

“I liked that they were a dual image: on one hand it’s a bottle, on the other it’s a figure. I saw the taxidermy and the concrete bottle as two figures melding into each other, and also as two objects overlapping. Taxidermy is as much of an object as a coffee cup or any other thing. But they were white and there’s an idea of purity involved, and when you see the fur matted and embedded in concrete it’s quite jarring.”

A more recent work is “It’s hard to make a stand”, the statue of a horse whose head is covered with a fur coat, like a defaced memorial. In both cases, it is the mix of material and animal fur that interests me and the different ways of creating a new animal with human traits that meets modern marketing.

It is also remarkable that taxidermy has recently gained popularity and recognition as an art form, through the works of other Contemporary British artists Polly Morgan, or Tim Noble and Sue Webster -here.

Whether you like it or not – this is what British art looks like these days, so worth a visit, if merely informative. I will be looking forward to the forthcoming “Shape of things to come” on contemporary sculpture, next month at the Saatchi Gallery.

Steve Bishop, Jean-Paul Gaultier – Classique (Arctic Fox), 2008. Taxidermied fox, concrete, paint. 147 x 53 x 47 cm (with base).