House of Dior creation bags 'Dress of the Year 2012'

The award winning outfit was selected by Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Editor of the Financial Times, who has chosen a colourful embroidered and appliquéd silk cut-off ball gown worn with black slim trousers from the House of Dior in Paris.

The haute couture ensemble was created by Dior’s new head designer Raf Simons, who took over at the world’s oldest established fashion house last year to much acclaim. His debut was the most anticipated fashion moment of 2012.

Raf Simons said: “It is a great honour to have one of my debut Christian Dior Haute Couture collection’s looks chosen as Dress of the Year by Vanessa Friedman for the Fashion Museum. The way the museum’s collection is such a distinct document of not just fashion, but history in general, makes me proud that my clothes can feature amongst those looks and say something about today.”

Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Editor of the Financial Times and selector of the Dress of the Year 2012, said: “This dress, or rather evolution of the dress, from Raf Simons's first couture show for Christian Dior, represents not just a generational shift in fashion – the moment when a new designer took over at the ultimate French couture house – but also an aesthetic new direction.

It signals a move away from the most escapist, extreme garments of the fin de siecle and toward a new 21st century, post-recession balance that blends functionality with fantasy, while at the same time returning to the essential values of the couture: making women's lives easier.”

Winning design shows evolution of the dress

The heavy silk strapless cut-off ball gown is covered with a layer of fine tulle onto which is embroidered and appliqued bunches of pale blue and pink flowers, highlighting Christian Dior’s own obsession with flowers. The embroideries feature tiny silk petals, pearls, gemstones and metallic thread, all sewn by hand in the haute couture workroom.

The construction of the dress features an internal corset and bustier along with a silk tulle mini-petticoat that can be seen through a split at the front.

The flared hip silhouette of the dress has been taken from the pattern of one of the ball gowns in the Dior archive, the original silhouette is sliced and shortened to form a short dress or top to be worn over the simple black cigarette pants. The look is accessorised with a pair of kitten heel black pointed sandals and a net veil by milliner Stephen Jones.