APPROACHING couture is usually everything but simplistic. But, for Dior’s autumn-winter 2023 couture collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri decided to take a more refined approach to this side of luxury fashion.
Honing in on the process and craft at its very core, the designer pursued her vision of what ideal couture looked like by only focusing on its archetypes: the tunic, the peplum proportion, the movement of capes and the stolé.
Stripping not only the silhouettes down, the models graced the runway in flats and gradually built up a fine palette of colour for the collection, only swaying between shades of white, beige, silver and light gold.
Though the framework of the couture collection was all about the craft of creation, looking at AW23 as a whole, Grazia Chiuri gave us an array of looks designed to emulate Greek goddesses – seeing her continue to latch onto her this central theme so far at her time at Dior.
Beyond the clear links to tales of the Mediterranean, her unwavering hold on creating strength within her looks of pure, unfiltered femininity, is an undercurrent of what true “quiet luxury” means. No major logos, no unnecessary embroidery and no in-your-face glitz, Dior’s couture this season was just simple, somewhat untouchable luxury, and no one does it quite like Grazia Chiuri.
by Imogen Clark