The 30 Best Looks by Raf Simons at Dior
With news of Raf Simons’s departure from Dior, let’s take a look back at his three-and-a-half-year tenure at the design house. While it may sound like a short period of time, he worked on an astounding 20 collections. His first collection debuted during haute couture fall 2012 and set a new signature aesthetic for the brand: sharp tailoring, creative color combinations, and skirts or very short dresses worn over pants. Simons was also instrumental in making the single statement earring a trend, in addition to convincing us that everyone needs a sparkly turtleneck for layering. And let’s not forget all of the shoes: He created a couture sneaker, revived the surreal comma heel, and designed a patent sock-bootie that quickly trickled down to the masses.
Click ahead to relive all of the most memorable looks from Raf Simons’s time at Dior.
Fall 2012 Haute Couture Raf started off his first collection for Dior on a strong tailoring note, one that would follow the rest of his care...
Fall 2012 Haute Couture Raf started off his first collection for Dior on a strong tailoring note, one that would follow the rest of his career. The sharp pantsuits felt feminine, modern, and also very wearable.
Fall 2012 Haute Couture The sets played an equally strong role in his debut — rooms were filled to the brim with flowers, which were e...
Fall 2012 Haute Couture The sets played an equally strong role in his debut — rooms were filled to the brim with flowers, which were echoed in the looks. Here is another signature look: the not-quite-long-enough-to-be-a-minidress, layered over slim trousers.
Fall 2012 Haute Couture No one else could masterfully use color quite like he did. Here, a lipstick-red coat-dress combined his sensib...
Fall 2012 Haute Couture No one else could masterfully use color quite like he did. Here, a lipstick-red coat-dress combined his sensibilities with the Bar hourglass silhouette iconic to the brand. Leelee Sobieski (a longtime friend of the brand) wore this to Simons's spring 2013 follow-up show.
Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear At his first ready-to-wear show, suiting remained a strong point, and he introduced a tied silk scarf into the mi...
Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear At his first ready-to-wear show, suiting remained a strong point, and he introduced a tied silk scarf into the mix. The juxtaposition of the pink scarf with the blue eye makeup indicated he wasn't afraid to get a little weird with his colors.
Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear Color and texture were big themes throughout his career: This madcap mix of purple, green, and orange, coupled wi...
Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear Color and texture were big themes throughout his career: This madcap mix of purple, green, and orange, coupled with the iridescent overlay, had a futuristic though very feminine feel.
Spring 2013 Haute Couture Here, the dress that inspired the navy version Jennifer Lawrence wore to the SAG Awards and launched a thous...
Spring 2013 Haute Couture Here, the dress that inspired the navy version Jennifer Lawrence wore to the SAG Awards and launched a thousand conspiracy theories as to whether or not she ripped it. Answer: She did not.
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
Spring 2013 Haute Couture Why not a couture bathing cap? Worn with a simple T-shirt and an elaborate flared ball gown, it was luxury a...
Spring 2013 Haute Couture Why not a couture bathing cap? Worn with a simple T-shirt and an elaborate flared ball gown, it was luxury at its most laid-back.
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni
Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear This collection was filled with many memorable moments, from the surreal set to the Warhol-infused graphics peppered thro...
Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear This collection was filled with many memorable moments, from the surreal set to the Warhol-infused graphics peppered throughout the collection. But it was that single earring, worn with every look, that catapaulted a trend. It would also be the precursor to the Tribal earring, arguably one of the most popular accessories ever made by Dior.
Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear Simons dug into the archives and decided to combine two Dior signatures: houndstooth and the comma heel. The latter was c...
Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear Simons dug into the archives and decided to combine two Dior signatures: houndstooth and the comma heel. The latter was created by Roger Vivier during his time at the brand.
Resort 2014 For resort 2014, Dior decided to take the show to Monaco, where Princess Charlene wore this dress mere moments after it debuted on th...
Resort 2014 For resort 2014, Dior decided to take the show to Monaco, where Princess Charlene wore this dress mere moments after it debuted on the runway.
Resort 2014 Here are more of Raf's signatures: the scarf draped nonchalantly over the neck, color-blocking that mixed textures.
Fall 2013 Haute Couture Up close, this white dress featured a dizzying array of rainbow beading that took countless hours to create.
Fall 2013 Haute Couture As dark and moody as this look was, there was always a sense of levity in the form of transparent panels.
Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Again Simons decided to fill his set with dripping flowers and referenced them throughout his collection. But the flora...
Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Again Simons decided to fill his set with dripping flowers and referenced them throughout his collection. But the floral patterns weren't straightforward — they were interspliced with bizarre words and phrases, like "hyperreal," "primrose path," and "Alice garden."
Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Raf ended his spring 2014 show with a series of metallic jacquard pieces. They came fast and were all plays on the same...
Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Raf ended his spring 2014 show with a series of metallic jacquard pieces. They came fast and were all plays on the same idea: the strapless dress in multiple lengths, including, as expected, tiny ones over pants.
Spring 2014 Haute Couture Behold, the collection that cemented 2014 as the year of the sneaker.
Spring 2014 Haute Couture While Simons's choice in footwear dominated the conversation, let's not forget these amazing finale dresses, whic...
Spring 2014 Haute Couture While Simons's choice in footwear dominated the conversation, let's not forget these amazing finale dresses, which featured delicate fluttering discs that appeared to defy gravity.
Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear Emerald-green suit and cobalt overcoat? Suddenly, that combo makes so much sense.
Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear While the suiting and laced-up jackets were the big hits of this collection, there was also this fantastic quilted look t...
Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear While the suiting and laced-up jackets were the big hits of this collection, there was also this fantastic quilted look that seemed completely fresh yet also warm and cozy.
Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear Here's another example of colors that you think wouldn't work but somehow do.
Fall 2014 Haute Couture Marie Antoinette pannier silhouettes may not be for every day, but at Simons's fall 2014 couture outing, they were beauti...
Fall 2014 Haute Couture Marie Antoinette pannier silhouettes may not be for every day, but at Simons's fall 2014 couture outing, they were beautiful and mesmerizing in their design.
Fall 2014 Haute Couture Simons's best couture looks were the ones you could envision yourself actually wearing. The embroidered jackets, layered ...
Fall 2014 Haute Couture Simons's best couture looks were the ones you could envision yourself actually wearing. The embroidered jackets, layered in effect and ranging from black to sorbetto colors, ignited an immediate craving just as surely they would have in the 18th century.
Resort 2015 When Simons brought Dior resort to Brooklyn, he looked into the house's history, using archival scarf prints that skimmed the torso, ...
Resort 2015 When Simons brought Dior resort to Brooklyn, he looked into the house's history, using archival scarf prints that skimmed the torso, and incorportated architectural silhouettes for city-dwellers.
Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Possibly THE collection that launched last season's Victorian trend (and many a shirtdress editorial), spring 2015's hi...
Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Possibly THE collection that launched last season's Victorian trend (and many a shirtdress editorial), spring 2015's high-necked smocked dresses were some of the prettiest old-timey night clothes in recent memory.
Pre-Fall 2015 Many of the looks in this collection, which was held at a sumo-wrestling arena in Tokyo, featured dresses and coats layered over su...
Pre-Fall 2015 Many of the looks in this collection, which was held at a sumo-wrestling arena in Tokyo, featured dresses and coats layered over super-slim sequined turtlenecks. It was a way to show onlookers that sparkle can be worn for day just as it is for night.
Spring 2015 Haute Couture David Bowie was an inspiration for this glam collection, which seems to be when Simons first got friendly with plastics...
Spring 2015 Haute Couture David Bowie was an inspiration for this glam collection, which seems to be when Simons first got friendly with plastics. The embellished plastic opera coats were highlights, and the gleaming patent thigh-high boots were precursors to fall 2014's look-at-me clear-heeled ankle boots.
Fall 2015 Haute Couture Lineisy Montero's dress from the fall 2015 couture show speaks volumes on Raf's work for Dior. Not only did this dress no...
Fall 2015 Haute Couture Lineisy Montero's dress from the fall 2015 couture show speaks volumes on Raf's work for Dior. Not only did this dress nod to Simons's passion for art (it was a success in pointillism), in retrospect, the print mimics the thousands and thousands of flowers Simons used in many of his Dior sets.
Fall 2015 Haute Couture Simons's recent collections have been softer in palette, but he used the fall 2015 couture season to remind everyone that...
Fall 2015 Haute Couture Simons's recent collections have been softer in palette, but he used the fall 2015 couture season to remind everyone that he is the master of color, mixing brilliant reds with periwinkles. The tailoring was superb with this outing, too, with elongated yet voluminous sleeves.
Fall 2015 Haute Couture The opening look from the fall 2015 couture show was something out of a fairy tale: a demure but semi-sheer white chiffon...
Fall 2015 Haute Couture The opening look from the fall 2015 couture show was something out of a fairy tale: a demure but semi-sheer white chiffon gown that made a few new brides gasp with regrets. It was both sensual but covered up, simple but detail-oriented. Oh, and the cuffs were trimmed in teeny, tiny little feathers.
Spring 2016 Ready-to-Wear Checking off some of next seasons's biggest trends — lingerie and bold shoulders — Simons's final collection at Dior wa...
Spring 2016 Ready-to-Wear Checking off some of next seasons's biggest trends — lingerie and bold shoulders — Simons's final collection at Dior was sensual, soft, and scaled-back, with pretty ponytails tied back with ribbons.
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