IN THE moonlit halls and labyrinthian gardens of the Château de Versailles, Maria Grazia Chiuri conjured a Dior spectacular that delved into the mystery and surrealism of our most beloved fairy tales.
This tale, however, wasn’t your typical happy-ever-after. Instead, the Italian designer looked to the sinister elements that fill the earliest stories, spinning them into an unsettling fantasy filled with frothy tulle gowns and cocoon-like capes.
Entitled Disturbing Beauty, the show was set in a crystal chandelier-lined corridor in the Galerie des Glaces. To put a dark twist on Versailles’s French Baroque grandeur, Chiuri placed an opaque brass mirror – designed by Italian artist Silvia Giambrone – in front of each of the room’s 17 arched windows.
The mirrors – waxed to shroud any reflection – were punctuated by acacia thorns and shared the space with a troupe of dancers in flesh-coloured bodysuits, led by Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal.
Making of the scenography imagery by Sophie Carre
The collection served to revisit and challenge archetypes in popular children’s tales by paying homage to age-old stories written by French women writers in which the female protagonists have far more complex and multi-layered personalities.
Against a harrowing techno soundtrack, produced by fashion’s favourite DJ Michel Gaubert, the show opened with a handful of black dresses; one in a pinafore-style with laser-cut detailing; another crafted from supple leather with puff-sleeves and a cinched waist.
A series of navy cashmere coats followed, with splashes of white and red that alluded to the uniform worn by toy soldiers. Black asserted itself onto a range of pieces from crisp cotton skirts to Bar jackets, some elevated with the Cannage motif, others with a large hood that channelled Angela Carter’s Little Red Riding Hood.
Chiuri’s strict colour palette softened with the appearance of glittering lamé and Lurex jacquards that lent a metallic sheen to leopard-print coats and off-shoulder midis. Elsewhere, red –a favourite of Monsieur Dior – illuminated capes and raincoats with tartan and an archival rose motif, evoking the original tale of Beauty and the Beast of which Chiuri is particularly fond.
Lace-up stompers paired with white bobby socks had a childlike Alice in Wonderland allure and accessoried looks alongside knee-high vinyl boots and monogram headscarves that are certain to play well with the Dior consumer.
The show concluded with a dreamy crimson-red tulle gown, playfully stylised with a heart-shaped bust, cementing the collection as one of Chiuri’s finest.
At a time consumed with longing for freedom, extravagance and new energy, this was a welcome dose of whirlwind escapism if there ever was one.
by Joshua Hendren