In the heart of the Rodin Museum garden, the botanist John Galliano presented an haute-couture fashion show dedicated to the floral arts. Decorated with giant artificial flowers, the catwalk witnessed a succession of models who seemed to come straight out of (celebrated Paris florist) Pascal Mutel’s studios.

The floral universe may be a continual source of inspiration for haute couture, but in the hands of John Galliano it was taken to another level, becoming nothing less than the backbone of the latest Dior collection.

Despite having been cradled in Japanese influences and enamored with sophistication, the AD of this Parisian fashion house did not simply allow nature to take over. He treats camellias, irises and orchids like elements capable of being made more beautiful than nature in the hands of man. Galliano does not invite us into a wild poppy field, but more into a place dedicated to floral decoration.

The designer evoked — in an almost literal fashion — the details necessary to finish a bouquet: a colored raffia ribbon, a seemingly plantlike cord for a belt, or a piece of cellophane wrap serving as a hair ornament.

Resembling creations that might be found in the halls of a luxury hotel, Galliano’s ensembles transformed simple pansies, hyacinth grapes and thistles into refined compositions taken to the extreme of aestheticism.

This being said, Galliano did not imprison himself in the rules of floral composition. He gave himself the authority to create head-to-toe petal and pistil ensembles (putting his creations at the service of the materials used to make them), or to conceive of an outfit like a flower in and of itself, rendering it even majestic. He also does not hesitate to repeat the leit motif of his show via bulb-shaped, gravity-defying hairstyles or satin skirts stuck with a dozen petunias.

In addition, there were the many references to the original Dior woman in John Galliano’s couture wardrobe: the comeback of the bar jacket, the omnipresent long gloves, opulent gowns and New Look references flirted with lily-shape inspired volumes.

In the end, between the Alice in Wonderland décor and the ode to the magnificence of flowers, Galliano delivers a highly contrasted collection of audacious color harmonies, while remaining firmly in his own language. However (by omitting anything that was not floral), he may have run the risk of giving too much of a good thing..