Dior’s show at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday struck a somber tone, with designer Maria Grazia Chiuri telling AFP her focus on combining “beauty and protection.”
“COVID-19 was another form of war. We have all experienced some very difficult months,” she said.
“There is a lot of reflection, in these difficult times, about how to combine beauty, aesthetics and protection.”
The 58-year-old Italian designer said her latest creations were aimed at finding technical solutions that can be more functional for women’s bodies.
They included a high-tech reworking of Christian Dior’s most iconic creation, the Bar jacket.
In collaboration with an Italian motorbike accessories firm, D-Lab, the new jacket has its own internal heating system, combined with padded hips that give it a hypersexualised, futuristic look.
“Clothes are themselves a form of protection… they reassure us. That aspect is very present in what I do – emotional protection as well as protection in its proper sense,” she said.
A committed feminist, Chiuri sees the current crisis as further proof of the failings of a male-dominated society.
“The problem is cultural and patriarchal. There must be more women in decision-making positions. There would be fewer wars,” she said.
The autumn-winter shows were supposed to mark Paris Fashion Week’s return to near-normal, with almost all labels back to holding public events as pandemic restrictions ease across Europe.
Models take to the runway during the Dior fashion show on Tuesday in Paris. Photos: IC
