DEBUTING their AW19 collection last week against a naked alphabet, Dior paid ode to one of the most provocative Italian artists of the 20th century. A reinvention of Tomaso Binga’s 1976 Living Writing, the feminist artist and writer is known for her choice of a masculine pseudonym in protest of male cultural privilege, the scenography echoed the collections mood of strength, sisterhood and femininity.
Comprised of images of the artist in letter-like shapes, the scenography in its entirety took three weeks to assemble. Over 280 wooden frames were used to create the space, and over 1.5 tons of polystyrene were used to create the 174 letters seen. An impressive feat, the scenography set the tone for Dior AW19, without taking centre-stage away from the collection. A cleverly composed accompaniment, Dior celebrates the female form and womanhood through their AW19 scenography.
Interpreted from one of Binga’s acrostic poems, through the scenography the female body becomes space of creative expression, “I’m a simple piece of paper. I’m a stamped letter.”
by Emma Hart