Dior to show its cruise collection at Blenheim Palace

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Mar 14, 2016

Dior is moving out to Blenheim Palace to unveil its 2017 cruise collection. The fashion label has confirmed it will showcase it on 31st May at Blenheim Palace, a historic British mansion located about ten miles north of Oxford, one hour away from the UK capital. It is the same palace where in the 1950s Christian Dior used to present his creations to the duchess of Marlborough, the owner of Blenheim.

The Dior show will take place two days before the show scheduled by Gucci Creative Director Michele Alessandro on 2nd June, at Westminster Abbey, London.

For the occasion, Dior could be revealing its new creative director's very first collection. According to increasingly persistent rumours, the LVMH group's label has chosen designer Jonathan Saunders to succeed Raf Simons, who threw in the towel last October.

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Indeed Jonathan Saunders has the ideal profile to fill in this role. He is one of London Fashion Week's most coveted names, having shown for 12 years in the British capital with his eponymous brand, launched in 2003.

Saunders is a textile design graduate from the Glasgow School of Art, and from London's Central Saint Martins School of Design in 2002. The talented Scottish designer soon made a name for himself in the fashion world thanks to his prints, his vivid colours and sophisticated cuts.

He has also enjoyed extensive professional experience with leading labels such as Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci and Chloé, as well as being Creative Director for Italian footwear manufacturer Pollini. Finally, and notably, the designer is not currently under any contracts and apparently on the market for a job.

In early December, Jonathan Saunders announced he was leaving the post of Creative Director and giving up his own brand. The decision is all the more surprising since in early 2015 his brand benefited from an investment made by Indian heiress Eiesha Bharti Pasricha...