RUNWAY REPORT.....Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Fall 2013...Christian Dior Haute Couture: Photos + Runway Video

Canadian model of Eritrean descent, Grace Mahary--Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2013

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Fall 2013 is upon us and the first shows have occurred. First up: Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2013. The collection--designed by Belgian Creative Director and replacement to John Galliano-- Raf Simons. His collection was based on flags--international flags, as well as influences from America, Africa and Asia. As Style.com said "A revamped Bar jacket was followed by a sporty navy blouson; a strapless dress in tiers of spacey shibori (the Japanese process that produces that peculiar spiky fabric) preceded another strapless number vibrantly banded in shiny tribal colors. Dior himself was something of an internationalist (each collection, Simons reproduces two dresses by the old master as an homage), so it would have made sense to him". The collection was a mix of stiff, folded, pleated--and draped and fluid. It was definitely modern and continuing the Raf Simons-Revamp of the Dior Couture House...

Runway Divas: Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2013

Of note, this was THE FIRST time designer Raf Simons used models of color while being at Dior. Black models. He hasn't yet. And he had been criticized because of it (Good!). It seems he (or the Dior team) listened. And there were six black models on the Dior Haute Couture Fall 2013 runway including Alek Wek, Grace Mahary, Joan Smalls, Maria Borges, Kelly Moreira, and Yasmin Warsame. Now, getting back to the FASHION...

Here are some of my "Nick Top Picks" from the collection: