DRAWN to the work of artist Isabella Ducrot, the walls of Rodin Museum were transformed to showcase Big Aura installation for Dior‘s spring-summer 2024 haute couture show.
Creating twenty-three oversized dresses, some extending to the height of almost five metres, Ducrot’s set design hoped to give the message of that the power of clothing transcends the body. For Maria Grazia Chiuri, Big Aura lay the foundation of how nothing recreated can ever be the same; in the sense that clothing adapts to the wearer, it moulds to the body, and means something different to each person.
The show notes use Walter Benjamin’s definition of aura, stating that it reflects the ‘uniqueness and authenticity of the work of art’ and inscribing it as ‘the collective memory’. So, with this in mind, Chiuri traced aura through the history of the House’s previous couture collections.
The creative director rediscovered the La Cigale dress, originally designed by Christian Dior for AW1952, and which became the starting point for Dior’s SS24 couture.
First created with a sculptural construction and moiré material [a silk fabric that after contact with heat creates a ripple effect), these two elements found their way through the geometric lines in design with coats that had outward collars, wide skirts and layers of jackets and trousers that played with silhouette.
While many other brands look at couture through a telescope of luxury fashion, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior couture always seem within reach. Trousers, trenches and silk dresses are a part of this 59-look collection, but the devil is truly in the detail with Dior.
Feather capes, embroidered double organza skirts and the Millefiori motif embedded in the yellow moiré dress, if you look close enough the meticulous savoir-faire of atelier shines through – and isn’t that the truest form of quiet luxury?
by Imogen Clark