Wild and ancient femininity for Dior Cruise 2018 Collection
Fashion & Leather Goods
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© Eric Staudenmaier
Against the striking backdrop of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve near Los Angeles, Maria Grazia Chiuri presented her first cruise collection as Creative Director for Dior women’s collections. Inspired by cave paintings, this 2018 collection explores the Dior heritage and brings a fresh vitality to femininity.
Maria Grazia Chiuri, Creative Director for Dior women’s collections, chose the California desert as the setting of her first cruise show for Dior. Her starting point was the Ovale line designed by Christian Dior in 1951, whose form alluded to primitive female depictions such as the Venus of Willendorf.
Guided by this inspiration and the idea of a wild and ancient femininity, Maria Grazia Chiuri infuses the collection with shamanic intuition that celebrates instinctive spirit. Wolves depicted in prehistoric paintings find their way onto silk jacquards where the almost golden ocher contrasts with blacks. Female handprints become sequined embroideries in earthy shades. Proportions and lengths are adjusted to a contemporary landscape in which sport mixes with haute couture and tradition becomes ornamental abstraction.
The collection is informed by multiple influences, including the work of American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and feminist shamanic healer Vicki Noble, infusing new life into Monsieur Dior’s beloved art of divination.