Maria Grazia Chiuri designs Dior’s spring/summer 2023 starting from a map of Paris taken from the Maison’s archives. The practicality of it is proposed again in a black and white print, and the non-tangible side in the inspiration to Catherine de’ Medici who arrives in Paris in 1533 and wants the Tuileries garden. A strong woman of power, she travels from Italy bringing with her innovation, intelligence and awareness; heels, corset and lace of Burano, which become part of the Court manufactures, arrives to court. The noblewoman is precisely emblematic of the relationship between femininity and power, endowed with wise political skills and a great sagacity, capable of carrying forward tradition and innovation. Women are able to explore hidden, magical territories, managing to establish unique connections with nature, animal kingdom and all the great life forces that come with it. They travel through imaginary worlds, fantastic and dark at the same time. What the show’s setting depicts is a sacred, natural and enveloping environment. A cave with Baroque influences, a cave that changes and evolves with time along with the advent of nature, just like the inner world of every woman, the mystery that envelops her.
The collection itself investigates the relationship between woman and power. Fashion becomes a real resource for the female figure, a journey of the mind but also a great form of awareness and reflection compared to the outside world. Perception, knowledge and experience are elements that allow fashion to dialogue with reality. Traditional Court dresses are transformed: corsets with geometric shapes, hidden or visible guêpière, mini crinolines and maxi volumes. It all refers to the silhouettes of the wide skirts of the Court of France. Dark makeup and black color tone down the purity of white and sand laces, pearls around the neck and romantic patterns. A color palette that reflects the Baroque, lots of black and white, sand and gold colors with floral prints and embroideries. Creativity and skilled craftsmanship pay homage to fashion as an art of invention and reinterpretation, rooted in the Parisian tradition that evolves over time. Fashion colors every space and also represents every tiny facet in which we find ourselves projected, across places, times, cultures and thoughts. Boldness and inventiveness, together with the exaggeration of a historical period of exuberant details and great opulence, give a modern and contemporary vision of a classic language.
