03 Mar 2024
For this Dior autumn-winter 2024-2025 ready-to-wear show, Maria Grazia Chiuri has reflected on the transitional era of the late 1960s, when fashion left the atelier to conquer the world. Hence the birth in 1967 of Miss Dior, a women’s line that introduced ready-to-wear and was entrusted by Marc Bohan to his assistant Philippe Guibourgé. The challenge for fashion then was to make dresses that could be reproduced and were, above all, suited to a pace of life where imagination was paramount.
In the dynamic context of an increasingly complex and ever-changing society, there was a shift from the landscape of the body to that of the globe. Thus, visual culture brought together art, fashion, architecture, and music to devise a spontaneous fresco, an unprecedented form of expression. Gabriella Crespi, a fascinating source of inspiration for Marc Bohan, was an artist and designer, a cosmopolitan creator and, for Maria Grazia Chiuri, symbolizes that pioneering generation of independent women determined to make a name for themselves through their work. Many of her objects and artistic pieces, contributed to the success of Dior addresses over those years.
The collection celebrates the shapes and materials that, when the Miss Dior boutique opened in Paris, gave impetus to a new way of dressing that could unite numerous women and make them all special. The scarf, dear to Maria Grazia Chiuri, is once again the must-have accessory. In everyday life, at work, or on a journey, the scarf is adjustable and compact, protective, enveloping, and embellishing as required. Free and flowing silhouettes, such as those in the A line, facilitate movement towards new horizons, enhancing the woman’s body without constricting it.
Colors echo Marc Bohan’s range: white, orange, pink, neon green, with tones adapted to make-up. Choice pieces are in double cashmere, as well as in gabardine, including little dresses, pants, coats, jackets and skirts cut above the knee. The Miss Dior logo is represented as a manifesto-signature in a palette of blues, reds and browns. Studs are replaced by beads, and embroidery makes a bold impact.
The models move amid a decor thought up by Indian artist Shakuntala Kulkarni, who explores the female body and its relationship to different spaces. The looks convey the radiant strength of a pluralistic, autonomous, and versatile femininity, reactivating that key moment of creative freedom of which Miss Dior is the emblem.
