Behind the set: Dior squares up the Musée du Louvre’s courtly Cour Carrée for its A/W 2015 show

Last season creative director Raf Simons relocated Dior's spring show to Louis Vuitton's former Musée du Louvre home with the help of production kings Bureau Betak, and for A/W they've returned with a new, purpose-built glass box.
Inside the super tent's graphic interiors, Simons' tonally picked up where his January haute couture show left off - the pastel pink (a signature house hue) carpet replaced by buffed flooring for ready-to-wear. Thick, black pillars created a jumbled blocky effect, connecting the co-ordinating pink ceiling with the smooth ground, as white benches lay in swirling configurations like fallen friends. Huge glass windows offered a clear vista of the location's money-can't-buy sandstone façade, a stone's throw from the Tuileries.
'I wanted the collection to deal with nature and femininity in a different way,' explained Simons. 'Away from the garden and the flower, to something more liberated, darker and more sexual.' Winter's set reinforced this message with its sweet colouring and bold, graphic composition. And just like Simons' abstracted animal print, it roared quietly, just as things should at Dior.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors' picks of the week
The London office of Wallpaper* had a very important visitor this week. Elsewhere, the team traverse a week at Frieze
-
Alexandre de Betak on getting lost to find himself in London
As the world-renowned artistic director opens his first personal studio in London during Frieze Week, Alexandre de Betak reflects on leaving the fashion runway behind to explore light, space and creative freedom
-
Step inside Faye Toogood's intimate cabinet of curiosities at PAD London
For PAD London 2025, (until 19 October) Faye Toogood presents The Magpie’s Nest with Friedman Benda
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: what to expect
Five moments to look out for at Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 in Paris (starting Monday 7 July), from Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela to Demna’s Balenciaga swansong. Plus, ‘new beginnings’ from JW Anderson
-
Summer games, from pétanque to pool floats, get a fashionable spin
From a luxurious pétanque set to pool floats and playing cards, summer games and toys from the world’s best-known fashion houses
-
‘Modern beauty’: Pieter Mulier on his new vision for Alaïa
As creative director of Alaïa, Belgian designer Pieter Mulier honours the timeless vision of the maison’s founder while rewriting the past anew. Here, speaking to Jack Moss, he tells the story behind his first year at the house
-
Mariella Bettineschi’s feminist artworks survey guests at Dior A/W 2022 show
As guests gathered at Dior’s A/W 2022 womenswear show venue in Paris, sets of duplicated eyes stared down at them from the artworks of Mariella Bettineschi
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu Miu
In this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from A/W 2022 menswear shows
A Kubrickian space odyssey at Prada; a recreation of the Pont Alexandre III in Paris at Dior; and colourful, artist-created flags at Loewe: explore the best runway sets from the A/W 2022 menswear shows
-
Dior recreates Paris bridge, Pont Alexandre III, for A/W 2022 show
Dior recreated Paris’ landmark bridge, Pont Alexandre III, for its A/W 2022 menswear show, which took place on 21 January 2022, the date of Christian Dior’s birthday
-
Paris Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2022: Louis Vuitton to Loewe, Dior to Hermès
In this extended report, Laura Hawkins reveals 9 highlights from Paris Fashion Week Men's A/W 2022. Including: Virgil Abloh's final collection for Louis Vuitton; Rick Owen's riff on sleaze; elfin-inspired accessories; and a celebration of slouch and surrealism