30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris. July 1st, 2019
For this Fall Winter 2019 Couture Collection, held at 30 Avenue Montaigne, the iconic address and birthplace of the founding couturier’s success, Maria Grazia Chiuri designed a collection inspired by caryatids, the poetic, statues of women that are at once marvelous columns — the founding pillars and bearers of society – as sublime ornaments that grace ancient temples certain Parisian façades with their streamlined curves. Almost entirely black, punctuated with rare shots of color, the Artistic Director’s creations reveal all their architectural power. A concept that implies starting with the fundamentals, the foundations of haute couture to better confront them with contemporary lifestyles. Thus, in keeping with the writings of the architect Bernard Rudofsky, this collection outlines an unexpected landscape that makes it possible to question notions of the body, clothes and habitat, space and time, nature and culture, and the flou and tailoring that constitute haute couture. This idea is further explored through the show’s set, a scenography by the feminist artist Penny Slinger. In a chimerical décor, she brings back to life all the women who, through their spirit and their beauty, have animated Dior’s hôtel particulier: the couturier’s beloved sister, Catherine Dior, his friends and muses, as well as the House’s petites mains and loyal clients.A magically intense fusion of femininity and architecture.