Christian Dior in Shanghai | Awesome Cruise Collection 2011

{YBA} John Galliano, with a sixties-chic presented his Christian Dior Cruise collection 2011 in Shanghai on Saturday night. The runway was constructed along the Huangpu River in the historic colonial district the Bund, and Dior muses Charlize Theron and Marion Cotillard, who also debuted her third installment in the Lady Dior Saga, Lady Blue Shanghai directed by David Lynch, prior to the show, sat in the front row along with LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, and Dior CEO Sidney Toledano.

On his third visit to China since 2002, designer John Galliano made it clear that this was not to be a dose of chinoiserie à la Dior. “I didn’t really want to do ‘China’ at all. Not only because I have done that, but because I didn’t think it was appropriate,” the designer said. “I just thought it would be really fierce, really cool, to present le savoir faire français.” And that he did, with a savvy blend of ready-to-wear and couture. “I was just trying to recapture that excitement that was happening at that time in Paris, which is very similar to what is happening in Shanghai today,” he said.

Galliano, for his part, said he had enjoyed some of Shanghai’s customs, especially those of the chakra-aligning persuasion. “The first thing I did here was have acupuncture,” he said. “I have to kind of contain [my energy] and give it to the girls on the day of the show.”