An outsider looking at the spring haute couture collections last week would not have discerned that pressure in the mod coats and crocodile minis that John Galliano showed at Dior. Sidney Toledano, the president of Dior, which is a unit of LVMH, said that there has been no attempt to rein in Mr. Galliano and that on the contrary the house is spending more on marketing, for which couture is a primary tool.
"John will get what he wants," Mr. Toledano said.
Chanel has been owned by the Wertheimer family since 1954, the year that Mr. Lagerfeld began learning dressmaking techniques handed down since the 1920's. And though Chanel today functions like any sleek corporate machine, you still feel when looking at Mr. Lagerfeld's clothes that the most vital part of the mechanism is the seamstress's tiny stitch.
At the rate couture houses are closing, in another dozen years the intricate work of the petites mains will probably cease to matter. More than any individual, Mr. Lagerfeld has attempted to preserve needle-craft skills by getting Chanel to buy small suppliers like Lesage, the embroiderer, and by having dresses in his collections, like those in pin-tucked silk chiffon, that show off the quiet artistry of the petites mains. But the situation is comparable to the arrival of the automobile. In time the knowledge of harness straps and carriages was wiped away.
Valentino's show was also a first-rate display of workmanship, set to an around-the-world theme (and video montage) that occasionally made you want to plead, "Daddy, are we there yet?" Still, the ride was worth it just to see the finesse of a white coat channeled with white embroidery, the smack of iris and pansy colors and the Harlow glamour of a gown sewn with thousands of pearls and worn with a white mink vest tied with a pink bow. And whereas Giorgio Armani seems ensnared by faultless elegance, Valentino goes for the delicious perversity of a black cocktail dress drizzled with pink ruffles and rosettes. When a couture dress costs $50,000, why confine yourself to the lower altitudes of good taste?
Before Mr. Lacroix's show a spokeswoman said no decision had been made about whether he would continue with couture now that LVMH has sold his brand to a duty-free company. Mr. Lacroix was quoted in a French newspaper last week saying that he admired what Alber Elbaz has done at Lanvin, which is to give French chic a modern ease. His show offered such a gambit, with skimmy dresses under clouds of tulle (or a wrapper of khaki taffeta) and an especially lovely dress in pink chiffon caught with bows and laced at the back. The designer who set fashion on its ear with the pouf deserves a fresh start.
Dior：与往年的标新立异甚至反叛风格不同，今年，John Galliano设计了女人们真正能穿的衣服。Dior的总裁Sidney Toledano说，公司不会限制Galliano的设计思路，反而会加大市场力度来支持他。Toledano说：“约翰将得到他想要的一切。”
Chanel：Karl Lagerfeld的设计总是超乎人们的视觉和想象，他总是站在潮流尖端。Chanel和Dior是目前世界上仍然出售手工缝制高级成衣的两大品牌公司，但他们之间已经开始显露出差别：Dior选择了上市公司的理念和文化；而Chanel依然坚持手工制作的细密针脚。为了保持针脚的工艺，Lagerfeld还试图购买小规模的生产厂。
Valentino和Armani的时装是电影明星们参加各种颁奖典礼时非常热衷和适宜的。Armani的服饰似乎都贯穿了一种无瑕疵的优雅，而Valentino的细节之处则带着一点令人愉悦的反常规处理。和Chanel一样，Valentino时装的做工也是一流的。
自从LVMH集团推出Christian Lacroix品牌以来，已经有17个年头了。但今年LV将卖掉这个品牌，所以今年的时装发布会也许是Lacroix的最后一次亮相。Lacroix对丝绸的运用，以及对褶皱、蕾丝、滚边等的运用让很多女人迷惑也迷醉。
