Galliano Fetes 60 Years of Dior

Haute couture is the most rarefied branch of fashion, in which dresses are made entirely by hand by the world's most skilful seamstresses and cost about £50,000 a throw. It is a very romantic world of heart-stopping young beauties dressed in chiffon; it is also, in today's ruthless financial climate, probably heading for a tragic end.

So John Galliano could hardly have chosen a more fitting theme for yesterday's Christian Dior haute couture show than Puccini's tragic romance, Madame Butterfly.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the New Look, which established Christian Dior as the most influential house in postwar fashion. To celebrate this, Galliano filled the catwalk with models, dressed in elaborate geisha-inspired gowns. This year is also the 10th anniversary of Galliano's time at Dior's helm. In honour of this, Galliano closed the show, taking to the catwalk under a snowstorm of white paper butterflies, dressed to the nines as Mr Pinkerton to his flock of Madame Butterflies, with flowing dandy locks, gleaming military uniform and haughty swagger.

Ten years at Dior is an extraordinary achievement. The traditional customers, who have been loyal to the couture houses since their heyday in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, are dying off. To wealthy young women the slow, formal customs of couture seem quaint and anachronistic. Some couture names, such as Yves Saint Laurent, have bowed out altogether; others, such as Givenchy, have seen a procession of young designers struggle in vain to revitalise the brand.

The key to Galliano's success in Paris has been firstly that he has real respect and passion for the most rigorous disciplines of fashion - the precision tailoring needed for the most elegant skirt suit, the painstaking skill and effort required to embellish the undulating folds of an evening gown with dazzling cherry blossom applique without spoiling the drape of the fabric. Added to this, he has a gift for showmanship which allows him to create a rich fantasy world of Dior each season.

This season's Madame Butterfly theme was a starting point for origami-folded sleeves, tiny obi-wrapped waists, lavish embroidery on stiff satin and acres of dreamy-hued chiffon.

It ended, appropriately, on a wistful note, with a model wearing a sleeveless ballerina-style wedding gown striking an elegant "dying swan" pose for the cameras.