This year’s edition of the Paris Fashion Week, to showcase the Spring/Summer 2021, collections was inaugurated by Dior. Presented to a socially distanced audience in a tent in the Jardin des Tuileries (while for the Cruse 2020 collection in Lecce no guests were allowed in), and with all the necessary measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior translated the necessity to understand womenswear during these relaxed times, inspired by Italian design from the 70s. Physicality and comfort wear are the key elements of the collection, suitable for private life, rather than going out. The references and contaminations are many, like feminists artists and literate. For this season, Chiuri’s was inspired by Lucia Marcucci’s collages and pay her homage with a film, made exclusively for Dior by the Italian filmmaker Alina Marazzi. “Starting from the collages that Lucia Marcucci put together at the time with ads and newspapers,” says Chiuri during a Zoom meeting. “Then we explored the minimalistic style of Susan Sontag, with her white button-up shirts. And of course, Simone de Beauvoir, that accessorized her outfits with elements that she collected during her travels”.
The collection looks back at the archives of the brand, like a coat designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Dior in 1957 in Japan, but also the Bar Jacket which is still one of the main protagonists of the Dior’s collections. After exploring knitwear, for this season, the jackets are now adaptable depending on your style and paired with trousers or skirts. Another protagonist of the season is the button-up shirts, inspired by the writers, poets and intellectuals that would wear it in the comfort of their home. It’s paired with wide pinstripes trousers or with shorts, under an oversized striped coat. The iconic Dior Oblique motif is featured on culotte trousers and midi-skirts. And the dream is celebrated even this season with the classic long see-through dresses in light blue, ocher and orange. The chiffon decorated with embroideries and pearls.
