Le Mythe Dior

In the most unfortunate circumstances, sometimes, we are forced to re-evaluate our usual ways of living and rediscover new creative methods to live and experience life. This never held so much truth and weight now, during these times in this global crisis ,as we are all exponentially challenged to be more creative.

Dior Autumn-Winter 2020-2021 Haute Couture collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri showcased in an exclusive film directed by Matteo Garrone

Coping with the current climate, shows being physically impossible to have, Maria Grazia Chiuri took Dior’s Autumn-Winter 2020 Couture collection to a whole new platform of fashion storytelling: beyond the runway, past modern conventionality and tradition. In a film exclusively directed by Matteo Garrone, Dior’s couture dresses were exquisitely done in miniature, referencing the Théâtre de la Mode during World War II, that sprouted as a means of reviving fashion. Just like how Paris historically regained its momentum through these 27-inch designer dolls, Maria Grazia-Chiuri championed this inspiration to contemporarily reinstate fashion again into our screens fit for the 21st century.

Ten miniature dresses travelled into mythical forests, enchanted swamps, and spellbound waterfalls that were tastefully carried by uniform cladded bellmen inside a litter, facetted like Dior’s historic 30 Montaigne boutique. Allegoric creatures of mermaids, elves, nymphs in leisure, snails, tree fairies, and satyresses were all privately shown with the Dior couture creations. Mesmerized by the masterful beauty of the dresses, they were liberalized to have these unique gowns custom fit to their style, shape, and peculiar silhouette. Each  were thoroughly taken measurements by the carry-men, down to their last fin, like VIP clients of the house inside the fitting rooms of the brand’s Parisian atelier. Fluid pleated skirts, angel winged dresses, and heavily beaded gowns were dramatically fashioned by these magical beings in their respective environments, enjoying the splendour, fantasy, and feeling of their Dior – showing the alluring magic of fashion and couture.

This whimsical storytelling intensifies the adaptation that the world is making in this pandemic. Fruitful outputs become the silver lining to all this chaos. Technology serving as the means to conform with the insane shift of life, further utilising it to bear the weight of improvised human contact and employing its advantages to show glimpses of life before and life after this pandemic. Maria Grazia Chiuri, the dreamer that she is, proved with her recent couture collection that fashion and creativity can never be bound by circumstances that arise. Similar to how fashion rose above the struggles and heartaches of war, it survived and will survive – stronger and more resilient than ever before. 

Vive la mode et Dior!

Photos screen grabbed from Dior’s video.

Jegs Santos is an engineer by profession whose wide interest in fashion, interiors, and design lead him to take a detour in life to follow his passion. He is currently an interior design student at the Philippine School of Interior Design, juggling it with work, both as a freelancer and a Senior editor for ACIIID. Outside work, you’ll find him out and about, looking for inspiration, nourishing his knowledge and conceiving fresh new ideas to inject into his work. Clearly, his life is fueled by his job.

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