John Galliano for Christian Dior, Haute Couture, Spring Summer Collection, 1998.Tribute to Marchesa

John GallianoforChristian Dior, Haute Couture, Spring Summer Collection, 1998.

Tribute to Marchesa Luisa Casati.

Not long after his arrival at Christian Dior, JohnGalliano invited us all to Paris’s Opera Garnier, where he staged what was probably his most lavish spectacle ever for the house on its grand marble steps. With the Marchesa Luisa Casati for a muse, the clothes looked straight out of an early 20th-century salon or ball. There were backless velvet gowns in Art Nouveau prints, opera coats with deep mink trim, lace sheaths and skirtsuits, and rose-strewn picture hats. And for the finale? A shower of pastel-colored tissue-paper confetti cut into the shape of tiny butterflies. Pure magic. (x)