There were champagne glasses breaking even before the cocktail party got officially underway for the relaunch of the 3,000-
square-foot Dior store Wednesday night at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif. But the fashion-hungry guests waiting outside the store to be let in for the event took it as a sign of good luck, as they waited for actress Eva Mendes to emerge to cut the ribbon along with Sidney Toledano, Dior’s global president and Henry Segerstrom, managing partner C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, owner of the shopping center, and wife and arts patron Elizabeth Segerstrom.
A special gallery corridor featuring oversize photos of dresses in the house’s archives set the tone for the evening and led guests to the façade of the Peter Marino-designed boutique. Marino’s dramatic, transparent floor-to-ceiling, double layer, backlit glass façade created to emulate the iconic Dior ‘cannage’ pattern is a signature look at its flagship stores.
It would seem that, indeed, a little broken glass was an auspicious start for the boutique whose
staff had their hands full catering to the eager shoppers ogling over handbags, footwear, ready to wear and jewelry.
Particularly bustling was Dior’s new fine jewelry salon, the first of its kind in the U.S. The concept debuted in the Geneva and Shanghai stores earlier this year. The salon, adorned
with a clever twinkling constellation of Aquarius (Dior’s own zodiac sign) on the ceiling, showcases the gorgeous, witty designs of longtime Dior Joaillerie designer Victoire de Castellane. Many of her intricately designed pieces were perched atop miniature replicas of furniture set in tiny vignettes created to evoke the flagship on Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Mendes, dressed in a lilac Dior silk crepe georgette dress with embroidery, had been at South Coast Plaza earlier in the year for the launch of her Vida for Espana tableware collection. She marveled over the new store and the breadth of designer offerings at the tony shopping center — from Harry Winston to Chanel, Balenciaga, Marni, Christian Louboutin, Oscar de la Renta and more — and joked that even the traffic on the 405 wouldn’t deter her from coming back to shop.
While Mendes couldn’t remember the first Dior Piece that she wore, she vividly recalled the moment she made fashion history in Dior.
“My favorite Dior moment was at the Golden Globes [in 2009] in that white Gown,” said Mendes.“And it wasn’t just a big moment for me, but I heard that a lot of people were inspired by that dress. It was just this larger-than-life fashion moment.”
Mazel Tov!
See More Party Pics From the Dior party at South Coast Plaza: