John Galliano

John Galliano's haute couture collection for Dior for this summer was a designed as an invitation to the ball set in the romantic are of Bois de Boulogne park in Paris.

Overcoats, with extra volume at the back in the style of the well known Cristobal Balenciaga, were thrown over straight skirts or slinky body-hugging dresses. Other frocks were tight across the bosom but with full skirts. He used slender waistlines, the back of dresses were puffed out, and had oversized, silk flowers weighing down the hems or nestling in the backs of layered necklines.

Gold arabesque embroidery and geometric motifs were reminiscent of the paintings of Gustav Klimt.

Galliano said he had been inspired by a portrait of Amelie Gautrea in a plunge-neckline dress by the 19th-century American painter John Singer Sargent, which caused a scandal at the time. "I like looking at nature - I really wanted to treat butterflies in a different way. Often it's very romantic and floral. I wanted to show a more graphic, punchier side," he said.

Every item in the collection had appliques of a patchwork print of real-life photos of specimens which he bought. The collection also mixed precious fabrics with rougher materials, like goat's fur or cotton with silk prints. "I think that gives a garment a modern edge," he said.