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Dior Went Full-on British for Its Cruise 2017 Show at Blenheim Palace

Dior Cruise 2017
Dior Cruise 2017 Photo: Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/Getty Images

The run-up to Dior’s 2017 cruise show was, as befit the location, very, very British. Before today’s runway show at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, where the house held two major shows in the 1950s, there was a series of celebrations in London. The house feted its show — plus a new store on New Bond Street designed by starchitect Peter Marino and an accessories collaboration with sculptor Marc Quinn — with a pub takeover. Yes, you read that correctly: The brand held a one-night-only party in the historic Audley Pub, christened the Lady Dior pub for the evening, and complete with bartenders tatted-up with themed ink. (We hope there was Guinness on tap.) Then a series of Dior-themed London cabs took guests, including Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka, to the next stop on the journey: They rode the Dior Express from Victoria Station up to Oxfordshire.

With fanfare like that, the show had a lot to live up to. The clothes — the work of a design team led by Serge Ruffieux and Lucie Meier — were inspired by British style icons like Edith Sitwell, and worked in the national eccentricity in interesting ways: for example, looks that combined not one, not two, but three miniature floral prints, or oversized necklaces that channeled Sitwell’s signature accessory. Witchy lace-up boots, cropped pants and slip dresses were also on the docket. And of course, the house’s brand-spanking-new beauty ambassador Bella Hadid was among those trotting down the carpet.

Dior Had a Very British Cruise 2017 Show