Is Christian Dior better known than Beyoncé? We cannot say. Still, like the American pop star who is unleashing the crowds right now on the occasion of his Renaissance World Tour, the fashion house on Avenue Montaigne, too, is on a world tour. A few weeks ago, the flagship of the LVMH group invested the Gateway of India in Mumbai to organize its pre-fall 2023 show (currently in store) dedicated to the excellence of Indian know-how. This Saturday evening, Dior is in Mexico City, to unveil its 2024 cruise collection. A cloakroom often inspired by exotic destinations because traditionally intended for a wealthy clientele vacationing in the sun during the long winter months.
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Maria Grazia Chiuri, the artistic director, performs like a rock star. Does she feel like one? "It's Christian Dior, much more than me, who is a rock star," she replied amused, the day before her second major show in two months. As early as 1948, he had undertaken a trip to the United States and then to South America. He presented his collections there and I dare not imagine the difficulties of organizing such events without all the means we have today."
In the post-war years, the inventor of New Look had understood, probably the first, that the salvation of French haute couture would be in the conquest of new markets. Nearly eight decades later, his house has become a global brand that must remain in constant contact with its customers across five continents. Yet on this day, at Dior, we swear that this is not business. "Of course this kind of event allows us to maintain and probably amplify the link with our local customers but it is not the primary goal, explains Charles Delapalme, the general manager. Dior must also produce these kinds of moments that make the whole world dream. And then, for Maria Grazia, these last two collections, these two countries that inspired them, are very close to her heart." The Italian at the head of women's lines since 2017 confirms: "These two shows were dreams for me, long before I was appointed to Dior. I've been fascinated by Mexico since I saw my first art exhibition as a child. It was a retrospective of Frida Kahlo in Rome. It was also the first time I saw the work of a woman artist. His work centered around the body and its representation, his way of communicating his art through his clothing was a revelation. She understood very quickly that her wardrobe could help her reinvent herself, to transcend her illness and infirmities. More generally, this reflection around Frida helped me to think about my job. This industry thinks more often in terms of brand than clothing, creates new needs, new trends instead of thinking about what a woman chooses an outfit, how she shapes her identity through it."
Dior Cruise Collection 2024 RODRIGO OROPEZA
This Saturday evening, in the beautiful garden of the former Jesuit college of San Ildefonso, where Frida Kahlo studied and which houses several frescoes by her soul mate and husband Diego Rivera, 112 young girls parade in the pouring rain. Some of the journalists, quite sheltered under the arches of the patio, then remember another cruise parade, in the great stables of the Chantilly estate, in 2019, already inspired by the strong figure of the Mexican woman, through the Escaramuzas, these riders who practice rodeo in petticoats with ruffles and sombreros. As three years ago, bad weather will not get the better of these beauties with braided hair, shod with santiags, embroidered Bar jackets, wide cotton liquettes warmed with striped jackets, Mexican blouses rid of their folklore, big belts, long skirts with smooth velvet pleats. The pink ball gown of the Kahlo in Self-portrait on the border between Mexico and the United States, painted in 1932, assumes another modernity, cut in this guipure fine close to the body and transparent bordered by small ruffles. Butterflies, motifs dear to the artist, fly everywhere on this high-flying wardrobe: stitched in the neck of the models, adorning the front of a dress with pleats, necklace or printed canvas de Jouy style.
This is (again) the tour de force of "MGC": opening the doors of the Montaigne workshops and being inspired by local know-how without falling into the picturesque. "I keep saying it: couture is everywhere, not just in Paris. Everyone is obsessed with cultural appropriation and intellectual protection. Let's take our oblique pattern. We will not protect it by freezing it for eternity but rather by making it evolve through other visions, other techniques. And then it's my language, what interests me is the mix of influences. I am also the fruit of this mixture.
»Dior RODRIGO OROPEZA Cruise Collection 2024
That's when the powerful guitar chords of Cancion sin miedo, the feminist anthem of singer Vivir Quintana, sound. A group of Mexican women come forward proudly, heads held high, as the rain redoubles, dressed in sumptuous immaculate dresses (archive canvases of the Parisian house) embroidered with blood-red messages by Elina Chauvet. A suspended moment inspired by the work Confienzia (2012) by the artist born in Chihuahua, in the north of the country, one of the regions most affected by Cfemicides, a tribute to the tragic story of Picca Bacca, an Italian artist killed in Turkey during one of these performances. "I saw this white dress embroidered with red thread in 2019 in Rome and it touched me deeply," says Maria Grazia. I then contacted Elina to see what we could do together. Do you know that in Mexico, twelve women die every day because of their gender?! The subject of femicide must be addressed. Consciences must be raised. And this scourge does not only affect Mexico...
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