Dior store opening

Where Parisian design houses tread, a well-heeled set is sure to follow - and Thursday night's opening of the new Christian Dior shop in Sydney was no exception.

The four-storey, 12-room Castlereagh Street store, kept under wraps until the very last possible moment, opened its doors to models, local glitterati and the industry's who's who to show off its Raf Simons creations and couture one-offs.

Tina Arena, Lara Bingle and Nicole Pollard joined a number of gamine clothes horses to waft around the labels mecca and pose alongside gold-chained handbags, four-figure-sum shoes and the global Dior CEO, Sidney Toledano.

Australian actress Isabel Lucas chose the evening to give one of Dior's Spring/summer 2013 runway looks a spin - with mixed reactions.

Looking as natural and as serene as ever, the 28-year-old was gift-wrapped in the hazy, light-reflecting striped dress - hailed as avant garde and fresh when it hit the runway last year.

The Huffington Post, however, remarked that the look failed to translate from the catwalk to real life, "the layered creation in front of a few paparazzi flashbulbs ... was a whole other story".

"Something about the dress on Lucas, with her long hair and tan Aussie skin, just didn't feel right... literally. That material seems so itchy, right?"

The Daily Mail's criticisms were less reserved, panning the look. "[Lucas'] attempt to wear a confection from the French fashion house's Spring 2013 collection fell short as it swamped her petite frame and appeared in need of some steaming," the newspaper reported.

It went on to say that the dress "merely swallowed Isabel, laying flatly against her frame".

Itchy it may be - but comfort and high fashion have never been known to be the easiest of bedmates.