EXPLORING CONTEMPLATION, CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ELEGANCE AMONG ANDALUSIAN INFLUENCES, DIOR’S SPRING-SUMMER 2024 COUTURE COLLECTION CROSSES BOUNDARIES WITH THE ARTISTIC COLLABORATION OF ISABELLA DUCROT.
In the heart of Parisian fashion, Dior’s couture showcase unfolded on Monday, a moment of contemplation and an array of effortlessly wearable garments. The runway, adorned with powerful female stars like Glenn Close, Rihanna, Carla Bruni, and Natalie Portman, set the stage for a fashion spectacle.
This season, Dior collaborated with Isabella Ducrot, an artist born in Naples and based in Rome. Ducrot’s monumental installation, Big Aura, graced the walls of the bespoke venue at the Rodin Museum gardens. Twenty towering dresses, inspired by Ottoman sultan robes, hung alongside irregular black-striped wallpaper, evoking the fabric’s warp and weft.
The models made a striking entrance in a series of khaki looks, featuring trench coats, coat dresses, and cocktail attire with a trench coat flair – a harmonious blend of British style and French finesse.
While often restrained and meticulously curated, the collection occasionally burst into light with organza shirts, dresses, and pants adorned with swirls, foliage, pearls, raffia, and lacquered rhodoïds. It was Parisian couture in all its delicate splendor.
Maria Grazia Chiuri’s fabric of choice for the upcoming spring was a new lightweight moiré, shimmering in gold, white, gray, burgundy, and green. According to Chiuri, it “unfolds over winter like a wave.” Seen on elegant new Bar jackets and the classic Dior New Look full skirt, these pieces instantly felt like couture must-haves.
Set to a soundtrack curated by sound architect Michel Gaubert featuring Björk and the soaring vocals of Rosalía, and directed by the seasoned Michelle Lee, the show exuded professionalism. Chiuri explained the concept of Aura, tying it to haute couture as “a perpetually fertile ground for contemplation, where the reproduction of the original is never the same.” Each garment, like a unique aura, inevitably adapts to the wearer’s body.
While a couture collection, Chiuri’s inspiration may seem surprising. Citing Walter Benjamin’s seminal work, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” both Chiuri and artist Ducrot explored the concept of Aura. In a Monday couture lineup that began with the fireworks of Schiaparelli in Paris, Dior under Chiuri was notably understated. Yet, this subtlety is what makes Maria Grazia Chiuri a formidable creator – crafting garments women desire to wear in myriad situations, atmospheres, and occasions.
“I’ve found that my personality is always about wanting a certain functionality for everything I do. Every garment is a project, and I never forget that. Functionality always has to be taken into consideration. So, if I create a skirt, it has to be something that can be put on with just one button or an easy-to-wear belt, even in the constrained world of haute couture,” explained Maria Grazia Chiuri in a preview before the runway.
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