Nearly a century after his heyday, Dali is definitely having a moment. Standing backstage before his fallen CV couture show, Elie Saab said that Surrealist masked balls had been top of mind for this collection.
“Surrealism is about making dreams come true,” the designer mused before pausing a beat and adding, “You need to go with the flow. It’s a little naughty.”
In his private lounge, a mood board featured shots from many such events: here were Richard Burton in a shiny cape and Elizabeth Taylor with a white, feathered headpiece; a pixie-like Mia Farrow in a white butterfly mask from Truman Capote’s Black and White ball of 1966, cloud paintings by Magritte, and Dali’s “Meditative Rose” hanging in the sky. In the middle of it all, a question: “Can you name the celebrities behind the masks?” It’s the idea of being in elite company, yet having the frisson of still not-knowing that the couturier was trying to channel.
Dali’s suspended rose became a throughline for a narrative that ranged from a visually spare draped and pleated ivory gown, its bustier outlined with a single black rose on the vine, to a black-to-Bordeaux gradient gown in velvet that was first printed, then fully embroidered with matching ombré beading.
While the queen of flowers dominated the story, she was not alone: a bustier gown seemed to transform into an iris etched out in black like a stained-glass window, or a monarch’s wing. The couturier also worked in a sly surprise with beautifully tailored smokings for both men and women, suggesting that he is about to catch up on an as-yet underlit corner of his universe. It’s about time—and probably something his clientele didn’t quit realize they’d already been dreaming of.