Autumn-Winter 2023-2024 Ready-to-Wear Show
Online on February 28th at 3.00 p.m. (GMT+1)
For Maria Grazia Chiuri, each collection is an opportunity to reflect on what exactly clothing is in relationship to the body and to fashion.
The reinterpretation of the 1950s – for this Dior autumn-winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear line – is also a means for the Creative Director to explore, in ever new ways, the history of Dior and to further delve into French style by focusing on three extraordinary figures: Catherine Dior, Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco. These three women shared an independent spirit that guided their choices. Singular protagonists, each of them was able, through their lifestyle, to subvert feminine stereotypes that were part of the post-war mind set.
For Catherine Dior, this was accomplished through her choice to grow and sell flowers as a message of hope. For Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco, it was through their voices and their supreme stage presence. Expressing the soul of Paris or inspired by existentialist thinking, they created a wardrobe that reappropriated their heritage and staged it in a narrative marked by physical emotion and the intense rhythm of poems, literary texts turned into unforgettable songs. The experience of clothing is the tactile embodiment of a form of thinking, a means of approaching, of tuning into the world.
This Dior collection is the very signature of a femininity that goes against the grain. Rebellious. At once strong and fragile. The floral motifs chosen by Monsieur Dior have been revisited: mottled fabric is interwoven with a metallic thread that breathes life into the fabric, rendering it malleable, erasing contours to obtain an abstract effect. Primary colors take center stage: ruby, emerald, topaz yellow, blue. Delicately nuanced tartan fabrics distinguish coats, jackets and straight skirts, which can also be worn beneath large coats, like the “corolle” skirts. Poplin also shimmers with metallic thread. Embroidery composes little bursts of light.
Celebrating the kaleidoscopic image of a femininity outlined by powerful icons, inhabited with awareness, these creations suggest emotional paths for the new generations of women shaping our future.
VALKYRIE MISS DIOR
For Maria Grazia Chiuri, the decor for the presentation of the Dior autumn-winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection plays a fundamental role in highlighting her inspiration. For this unique show, she asked the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971, to occupy the venue with one of her monumental installations – entitled Valkyrie Miss Dior –, a proliferation of organic forms interacting with the architecture.
PARISIAN AMAZONS
Redrawing the defining lines of the 1950s Parisian wardrobe, the looks of the Dior autumn-winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear show celebrate a reinvented femininity, asserting a powerful attitude verging on the rebellious. Dresses and “corolle” skirts – emblematic of the iconic Bar silhouette – feature floral prints with mottled patterns that reflect meticulous archival research, along with a bold variation adorned with a thousand leather flowers. This material with a sensual appeal is also used for a jacket, evoking the Chicago model designed by Yves Saint Laurent for the 1960-1961 autumn-winter season.
While black in all its depth and multiple shades is predominant, outfits are also punctuated with leopard and houndstooth – eternal Dior references – and crushed fabrics woven with metallic threads envelope the body in an interplay of the House’s past and future. This (re)reading of Dior style also includes a virtuoso reinterpretation of the dress called Miss Dior in homage to Catherine Dior’s affectionate nickname, revealing the wealth of expertise mastered by the Chanakya Ateliers through precious embroidery. A celebration of Dior heritage suffused with infinite modernity.
SEAMLESSLY INSPIRATIONAL
Irresistible finishing touches, bags borrow their rigorous lines from the 1950’s models, highlighted by refined details. Paired with knee-high stockings in delicate fabric, pumps with the iconic comma heel – created for Dior by Roger Vivier – feature ankle straps, while black leather ankle boots embellished with precious trimmings echo the shape of salomes. An exquisite touch, long black leather gloves are punctuated with a clasp recalling the emblematic Tribal earrings. The power of femininity celebrated by Maria Grazia Chiuri is revealed through imposing boots equipped with multiple buckles, and poetic garlands of golden raffia flowers, echoing the Valkyries who inspired the show’s set design by Joana Vasconcelos. A dash of audacity and freedom that can also be seen in an elaborate breastplate, an enchanting piece of armor-like jewelry forging a connection between strength and fragility. A subtle tribute to the unique look and grace of Parisian women who fascinate the Creative Director so much.
PARIS, MY LOVE
As a tribute to the emblematic style of the 1950s Parisian woman, the pieces of the Dior autumn-winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection deploy virtuoso savoir-faire, combining heritage and reinvention.