Raf - Raf Simons Premieres First Dior Collection

Raf Simons Premieres First Dior Collection

Raf Simons has debuted his first Christian Dior collection at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

The Belgian fashion designer - who replaced John Galliano as creative director at The Fashion house in April - showed his first ever haute couture collection to rave reviews in a mansion on Avenue d'Iéna in Paris this afternoon (02.07.12).

V magazine tweeted their appreciation: ''It's a new dawn at the house of #Dior. We love you Raf Simons! (sic)''

Fashion writer Derek Blasberg added: ''The Dior show just ended. In the last 13 minutes, Raf Simons just single-handedly altered the contemporary haute couture landscape. Bravo! (sic)''

Designers Marc Jacobs, Diane Von Furstenberg, Donatella Versace and Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci were in attendance as well as 'The Hunger Games' actress Jennifer Lawrence and fashionista Olivia Palermo.

Raf, 44 - who has made his name at Jil Sander for the past seven years - had the walls of the mansion completely covered with a million white flowers.

His collection was in keeping with his minimalist vision, and included a well-tailored black tuxedo, a classic pale Pink dress and peplum tops.

The designer commented at the time of his Dior takeover: ''My aim is a very modern Dior, but at the end of the day, I also look back. I find that period between 1947 and 1957 extremely attractive, and there was a lot of modernity.''

Raf is the sixth designer to take the reigns at Christian Dior after the founder's death, following in the illustrious footsteps of YVES SAINT LAURENT, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré and John Galliano.

The collection was livestreamed at 2.30pm Paris time on Diormag.com.