FRANCE: PARIS: ITALIAN DESIGNER GIANFRANCO FERRE UNVEILS COLLECTION

(9 Oct 1996) French/Nat
Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre has unveiled his last ready-to-wear collection for French fashion house Christian Dior.
After eight years at the top of one of the most famous names in design, Ferre's show attempted to sum-up everything Dior has brought to fashion in the last 50 years.
The lack of innovative designs has left Paris lagging behind its fashion rivals, Milan and London, but Japanese and South-East Asian designers still like to show their designs in the romantic capital of haute-couture.
For Gianfranco Ferre, this collection was a tribute. A tribute to one of the great masters of French haute-couture: Christian Dior.
It's Ferre's last show for Dior and he attempts to capture the spirit of almost half a century of Dior's designs.
There's the famous Dior tuxedo, panther prints, and the Bar jacket as well as Dior's classic black.
For the models who were chosen to present this latest collection, it was also a time to celebrate Gianfranco Ferre's genius and personality as one of the industry's top names.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"Today, we rather want to please him, to make a real party out of this show, to be full of energy on the catwalk, to say goodbye to him, with a big smile."
SUPER CAPTION: Christelle de St. Louis, model
Ferre will now only design for his own fashion house in Milan. Dior's new in-house designer hasn't been announced yet but the name on everyone's lips is that of eccentric British designer, John Galliano.
Since the Dior house was founded in 1947, only four designers have been in charge of the fashion collections: Christian Dior himself, Yves Saint-Laurent, Marc Bohan and Gianfranco Ferre.
Japanese designer Junko Shimada has been in the business for over 15 years now. Paris being one of her favourite fashion capitals, she unveiled her latest collection at the Carrousel du Louvre, just a few steps away from the famous museum.
Shimada's clothes are colourful and easy to wear - though this time she's steered away from her Japanese roots in favour of the African colonial style for these designs.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
(Translation) "The collection was created in a way in a colonial spirit, it's primitive like. Actually, I intended to pick up ideas from Africa and the Pacific, which come from the colonial era and modernise them."
SUPER CAPTION: Junko Shimada, Designer
Issey Miyake, another Japanese designer, tried to recreate three dimensional shapes for his show. He drew his inspiration on the sketchbook "Arizona" by fellow Japanese painter Genichiro Inokuma.
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