Christian Dior’s experiences as a young man in Paris in the Roaring Twenties and his affinity with avant-garde artists contextualised the Paris exhibition, and demonstrated how later creative directors took inspiration from M. Dior’s life and interests; hopefully that period won’t get the chop to make way for the new British section. Similarly, the couturier’s passion for the aesthetics of foreign cultures will butt up against contemporary debates around cultural appropriation, but it would be a shame to bypass the opportunity to discuss how we value fashion statements from historic periods, when being woke simply meant you had been roused from sleeping. And with the V&A promising to create a blockbuster exhibition to follow Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, it will be thrilling to see how they recreate the stunning finale of the Paris exhibition, in which couture gowns – many worn by celebrities and royals – were presented in a spectacular Dior Ballroom.