High fashion in a garden

It was a fairy-tale-like debut for the collection of Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri for French fashion house Christian Dior in Paris on Monday.

Ms Chiuri unveiled the haute couture collection amid a lush garden setting at the Rodin Museum, presenting flowing flowery dresses, capes and plenty of intricate craftsmanship, Reuters reported.

Dior's first woman artistic director, who previously spent some 17 years at Valentino, took inspiration from labyrinths for the line on the second day of fashion shows at Paris' Haute Couture Week spring/ summer 2017.

One dream-like ball gown after another trailed through the enchanted woodland maze she created for the show, complete with a wish tree draped with charms and lights, said Agence France-Presse.

"I think that we have to maintain this dreaming idea of couture but, at the same time, I don't want to lose the wearable idea," she told reporters, according to Reuters.

"(A) labyrinth is a place where you go inside and it is also just a little bit dangerous... but, at the same time, you believe that it is possible to find a way. I think in some way, it represents my new adventure in couture at Dior."

A selection of luxury labels - including Chanel, Giorgio Armani Prive and Valentino - showed their expensive creations at Paris Haute Couture Week, which ran until yesterday.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 27, 2017, with the headline High fashion in a garden. Subscribe