At Dior, a femininity that goes against the grain
Maria Grazia Chiuri considers the rebellious and radical through the lens of the feminine divine.
By Ella Sangster
A KALEIDOSCOPIC image of femininity. This was Maria Grazia Chiuri’s vision for Dior autumn/winter 2023; a brief injected with the colours of rebellion and woven with the stories of independence and triumph. What arrived on the runway was this and much more, with Chiuri serving up her modern take on ‘the feminine divine’ with an ode to the women who helped shape it.
Through each of her collections, Chiuri explores the relationship between clothing and the body. This season, she looked at the dual purpose of a garment as something to be used as a means of aesthetic and emotional expression. The line reinterprets the fashions of the 1950s, exploring the history of the Maison and French style at large, as inspired by three extraordinary figures, Catherine Dior (the sister of the Maison’s founder), Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco. Throughout their lives, these three women subverted the stereotypes of femininity — notably, in the rigid post-war mindset. Further, they reshaped the very idea of French womenswear through their wardrobes, expressing the soul of Paris and rewriting the sartorial narrative through their dress.
Their relationships with their clothes reflect the idea that garments are the tactile embodiment of a form of thought; a way to tune into and rebuke society and its constructs. It is this notion to which Chiuri pays homage this season by creating a collection that challenges ideas of femininity.
All at once strong and fragile, Dior AW23 brings power to the feminine. It is easy to convey masculinity — and, thanks to patriarchal ideas, power — in clothing through sharpness and size; think big shoulders, sharp lines and boxy shapes. Chiuri does none of the above. Yet, in its softness — the soft shoulders, flowers and gentle A-lines — the collection is still stitched with a thread of authority. Subtly, of rebellion, even. The famous floral motifs beloved by Christian Dior are revisited as mottled fabric rendered malleable by stark, metallic thread woven through it (and on which poplin also shimmers).
Billowing skirts are rendered straight in moments of stillness thanks to starchy pleats. Bright shades of ruby, emerald, topaz yellow and blue pop alongside all-consuming black looks, where contours are erased yet bursts of light are found through gentle embroidery. The theme continued through the set, with Valkyrie Miss Dior, an artwork by Joana Vasconcelos, hanging above the heads of the models, and a cool lavender hue permeating the runway.
Through its subversion, Dior AW23 is, in a nutshell, a reflection of the nuance of femininity; one that goes against the grain.
Discover the full collection below.
