Maxfield fetes arrival of Dior’s spring ready-to-wear collection

Already modeled by dozens of celebs on the red carpet in the last few months, Raf Simons’ much-ballyhooed Dior spring ready-to-wear collection has finally landed in stores, including Maxfield, where it has taken over the side gallery space for the next two weeks.

A party was held Wednesday night to celebrate. And though the designer of the hour (year?) wasn’t there, lots of L.A.’s social butterflies were, including hosts Quinn Ezralow, Julia Sorkin and Kelly Styne, as well as Liberty Ross, Crystal Lourd and Leandra Medine, all dressed in Dior, of course.

The array of super-short cocktail dresses worn at the event played well in that formal-informal L.A. kind of way, including the striped, side-drape style worn under a black leather jacket by Stacey Kubasak, Dior’s L.A.-based director of entertainment relations, and the black leather, short sleeve shift with side drape detail worn by Lourd.

The clothes on the racks looked pretty great, too. I was interested to see what kind of everyday pieces would be merchandised alongside the show-stopping metallic organza floral ball skirts and high-low dresses we saw on the runway and red carpet. There were crisp white button-down shirts, one with a pleated peplum, and another with a black loop at the collar, ombre-hued cardigan sweaters, black trousers and sculpted Bar coat dresses. The powder pink Demoiselle sunglasses ($568) would make a fine L.A. spring accessory, and the crystal collars and cuffs were modern and chic.

So far, enthusiasm for the collection has been high, according to Sarah Stewart, head buyer for Maxfield, particularly for the neck scarves, “which flew out of the store,” and the pointy-toed sling back pumps ($830). “The way the clothes stand away from the body, they are just beautiful,” Stewart said.

But the prices, $1,450 for a white shirt, $9,600 for a dress, and $11,500 for a ball skirt, are not for the faint of heart. And privately, a few of the ladies in attendance were bemoaning paying couture-level prices for a ready-to-wear dress.

No doubt, there’s a customer out there who won’t mind.

Maxfield, 8825 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (310) 274-8800.

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