At Dior, the show must go on

London - At a Maison like Dior, the show must go on, despite the lack of creative director to guide and inspire its creative team. Without Raf Simons or the announcement of a successor, Dior for AW16 relied on its head designers Serge Ruffieux and Lucie Meier to create next season's collection while the brand finds a new creative leader.

While it is likely their first and last collection, they stuck to the codes Raf Simons brought to the house, and competently filled in the placeholder that could not have been left empty at a mega maison like Dior. Perhaps they even created their own codes with an off-the-shoulder slouchiness that was also seen at their couture show in January.

The set was both simple and striking with wind tunnels built into the mirrored box venue in the Cour Carrée that created a surreal set of walkways to reflect and refract a tight edit of a Dior core wardrobe. The bar jacket that Simons often reinterpreted was present in various textures of black, and in a more casual and loose form than before. The off-the-shoulder construction, explored in their couture collection, reappeared here with more movement and levity. A smattering of abstract embroidery depicting flowers was also present to bolster the eveningwear.

In what appeared to be a calculated casting choice, reality television starlet Kendall Jenner made her Dior debut on the runway. While the company continues its search for a creative director, you can't blame them for wanting to maximise their social media awareness, however one wonders how many persons outside of the fashion bubble are aware of any shuffling at the top. Customers look for continuity, which this season they got.

Perhaps a Maison like Dior could do without a 'big' name creative director. There is a tacit understanding that it is the clothes that sell, not the name that designs them. If designers are leaving their posts after an average of three years, perhaps it is the unspoken talent in the studios who are the real creative heroes and who should be in charge of the collections. They don't often get to share the limelight, and probably deserve the recognition more than most creative heads.