2
3
4
CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN After 10 years of raging success of the New Look, the luxurious brand was handed over to Yves Saint Laurent, Dior’s assistant, following his death in 1957. A number of incredibly talented designers carried on Dior’s legacy; Raf Simons, Galliano to name a couple. Dior established a new era for fashion, creating the signature look of the 20th century a style that conveyed feminine sophistication and blended simplicity
DIOR DIOR
French based luxury fashion house Christian Dior now owned by LVMH, all began with the man himself, who in his short career of 10 years revolutionised the fashion industry following World War II; a time of conservation and suffrage. The legend Dior brought luxury back to fashion with his first ever collection ‘The New Look’; an immensely successful however controversial couture collection, which brought back the use of ample amounts of fabric to create full, fluttering skirts, cinched waists, rounded shoulders, and the Bar Jacket. This was quite outrageous for the public to be witnessing and immersing itself in considering the decades of poverty. The idea of lots of clothing was quite foreign. Dior strived for la belle epoque.
5
aria Grazia
6
Maria Grazia Chiuri, Italian fashion designer and feminist currently leads the house of Dior as their first female creative director after spending seventeen successful years at Valentino. Since Chiuri’s debut in 2016, we have seen Dior bring back the saddle bag as well as the production of slogan t-shirts feminists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Jess Cartner-Morley, 2017). Chiuri believes its critical to project the current moods and attitudes towards the progression of female rights in fashion, and does so through these fabulous, loud collection of t-shirts. Chiuri’s creditability comes partially from her half of being a part of one of the most celebrated fashion duos in history, alongside Pierpaelo Piccioli
7
Chuir
l’avenir
est fém
“Sisterhood is very important. Together women can, as you’ve written, make the world better. I was lucky to begin my career at Fendi, with the five women who built that company. There was teamwork, which gave me the idea that it’s possible for women to work together—”
8
Maria Grazia Chiuri for Harper’s Bazzar interview.
r
minin
9
images from https://kendam.com/photos/album/xls-zpuxpyap
10
Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Toile De Jouy Particularly popular for wallpaper and curtains, toile de jouy was the main fabric used in the Dior Cruise collection of 2020 (Sally Singer, April 2019). The expensive material is a type of pattern consisting of white or off-white linen cloth or canvas coupled with a thinly lined complex scene. For the 2020 collection, Chiuri’s toile was designed and produced as a wax print at a studio called Uniwax in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan. The asked their team to create a print using the motifs of the tarot card Le Monde: mystical creatures and large animals in their ideal palette.
11
silhouette silhouette silhouette
silhouette Christian Dior himself believed that the survival of the haute couture relied on its ability to restore fantasy and luxury to women’s wardrobes. We see that Maria Grazia Chiuri lives up to Dior’s expectations for the brand through producing fantastic
empire ball gowns in
the Cruise collection of 2020 utilising ample amounts of thick fabric. We see the silhouette being illustrated keeping key aspects such as a sinched waist and full skirts. We also see Chiuri championing authentic wax prints as the design for these
12
f a n t a s t i c pieces
(Sally
Singer,
April
2019).
13
The The Tarot Tarot Mo
14
Le onde
Tarot being a key influence and visual house code of Dior dates back to the man Christian Dior himself and his love for all things astrology. It has been carried through the designs of collections produced by maria Grazia Chiuri in particular. Although very clearly portrayed in Dior’s Spring 2021 Couture collection (Andrers Christian Madsen, 2020) where the campaign film begins with a young woman sitting for a tarot card reading in their revolutionary Bar Jacket; I particularly enjoy the way tarot is displayed as a theme in the 2020 Dior Cruise collection, homing in on Le Monde, the highest card in the deck. Le Monde is a card that symbolises supreme awareness and acceptance of fullness, meaning that a time and state of being liberated from self-destruction - recognizing the suffering of others and place ourselves in the position of serving humanity and the rediscovery of the unity of the world in its Whole (The World, Le Monde Tarot Card 2021). In the collection, Chiuri alluded to le Monde through the inclusion of prints staring large lions and mythological creatures, and references to the numbers and words associated with the card.
15
Dior’s Fall 2017 collection and campaign,
shot by Brigitte Lacombe, pairs denim with a sense of sophistication. Through the models being dressed head to toe in indigo blue. The denim garments have been styled with black leather berets, a cross shoulder Dior bag, black stockings and slip shoes and in some cases sunglasses as well (Sarah Mower, 2017). In the campaign we also see indigo blue saturating couture ball gowns and long frilly skirts, creating a sense of elegance and high fashion to denim by Dior. Adding to this, we see a diverse range of eccentric looking models.
Denim in Navy blue, “a mystical colour… its spiritual… the colour of the uniform…means protection and it is poetic…its nostalgic, it’s the colour of the sea and the sky.” -
16
Maria Grazia Chiuri.
The shoot and photographs themselves that make up the Dior’s Spring/Summer 2018 campaign are iconic through their inclusion of world-renowned photographer Patrick Demarchelier and Russian model Sasha Pivovanova. Pairing denim with these two representations enables denim to be interpreted as high fashion. The way it has been styled plays a part in this also, with a glamorous belt and the Dior Book Tote in their staple oblique pattern. Both campaigns with their expressly nature and youthful models target a younger adult market, yet also a mature female market through the way they’ve been styled so elegantly.
nto
Dior These campaigns give a new identity to the Dior colour story... “among all of the colours, navy blue is the only one which can ever compete with black, it has all the same qualities’ – Christian Dior wrote.
17
18
OCEANfran oceanFran OceanFRAN OCEANfran oceanFran OceanFRAN O C E A N frank ocean
F R A N
O C E A N
Frank FRAN O C E A N
F
Frank Ocean knows what brands to be wearing to uphold a sense of luxe despite his quite simplistic style, according to Zak Maoui at GQ Magazine. We see a classic example of this when we saw him wear an elegant Prada hoodie to the Met Gala in 2019. We tend to see Frank in either a vintage t-shirt and pants, jumpers, and his signature bandana. However, he tends to uplift this with taking risks with bold bright colours or even a bright hair colour. We always see him with a 35mm film camera in hand. When being shot by a photographer instead of shooting his friends with his own camera, we see him being shot by Wolfgang Tillman, specifically for his Blond cover and Fantastic Man magazine (blonded.org 2016).
O
People, particularly young adults like and enjoy Frank Ocean for his style and lyrics. He communicates and explores themes of young love, loneliness, desire and innocence – in a way that is fresh and extraordinary. He can speak to a young adult audience and resonate with them. His 2.8 million followers on Instagram are mostly ages 20-29, as he is quite ‘trendy’ according to younger followers.
19
womanis womanism womanism
20
21
22
23
X WOMANISM
24
the the .tote .tote
25
The The The The The The The The The The The The The The 26
future future future future future future future future future future future future future future
is is is is is is is is is is is is is is
Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior. Feminin. Dior.
27
28
Dior X Womanism in store now. Los Angeles 29
Frank Oce
30
ean
Frank Ocean
31
32
33
34
35
st feminin by e r ism by Dior e n a i m D o i e or w avenier e m o a n w i v s m r b a st y D l’ ’ l r r i D o y b n
l’ave r o i nier ism by D est f e m o y b w a n is m l’a
n
om nin by Dior w anism by Di o mi fe or l’avenier est femini Di
io
ma venier est minin wo ’a b y Dior ior l ini by D nism by venie fem om a r e t s y ior w D
m nb
36
DIOR
n is
ma o w n