You’ve got to hand it to Maria Grazia Chiuri – she knows how to create a commercial fashion hit. Whether it’s the Dior Book Tote or her 'We Should All Be Feminists' T-shirts, Dior’s creative director has nailed the formula for an item that trends on social media and sells out in stores.
The newest iteration? A recreation of the J’Adore Dior T-shirt that John Galliano first sent down the runway in 2000 – kickstarting the luxury tee revolution.
It many ways it makes sense that Chiuri is mining the Dior archives. Today’s savvy consumer is already well-versed in hunting on eBay or Vestaire to find vintage fashion hits. And ever since both Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker wore the J’Adore Dior T-shirt in Sex and the City, Galliano’s T-shirt has been one of the most popular Dior searches.
Christian Dior Fall RTW 2025 (Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images)
‘I was obsessed to celebrate the history of the brand and Galliano as part of that. I think it was iconic T-shirt,’ she said of why it was this piece that had caught her attention. ‘I added some lace on top of the T-shirt,’ she added of her modern-day luxe spin on the noughties classic.
It wasn’t the only way Chiuri had looked to the past. She also said backstage that Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando had inspired her.
Just as the eponymous character Orlando uses fashion to play with constructs of gender, so Chiuri wanted her AW25 collection to feel transformative. That meant classic white shirts with detachable ruffs and jackets with additional corsets, so the customer can play with different looks depending on her mood.
Christian Dior Fall RTW 2025 (Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images)
‘My challenge was to create a white shirt that you can change in a very easy way. So you can put a masculine collar and also a ruffle collar and it’s a different look,’ she said backstage. ‘I think it is very pragmatic today and very functional for the life that we’re doing. With the velvet corset and jacket, the corset can go underneath the jacket but without it you can wear it with denim pants in the morning. I think this aspect is very attractive. I want to create something that is fashion but also functional.’
Just like stage versions of Orlando, Chiuri presented her show in five acts, as much an art performance as a catwalk show. It started with the practical. Trenches and raincoats – well, as practical as a Dior raincoat can be – worn with flat lace up boots and loafers with socks pulled up to the knee. It ended with an act of peplum encrusted mini dresses and floor-length lace dresses worn with ruff collars, which would have pleased actors Lily James and Natalie Portman who sat front row.
Christian Dior Fall RTW 2025 (Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images)
Indeed, for all Chiuri’s talk of designing clothes to slip seamlessly into a modern woman’s life, she still knows how to create a jaw-droppingly beautiful gown. Look no further than this weekend’s Oscars for proof. Once again, Dior backed a winner. To pick up her surprise Best Actress statuette for Anora Mikey Madison wore a pink and black gown that had taken Chiuri and her team 400 hours to make.
So what’s the secret to an Oscar-winning dress? ‘No, there is no secret,’ Chiuri said backstage, laughing. ‘It’s a lottery. You design the dress and you hope. It’s only the next morning you know…’ she added gesturing to scrolling through social media on her phone.
Well, if Chiuri takes the same approach to her shows, something tells us she’ll be happy in the morning. The high low mix of noughties catnip and clever, carefully-constructed craftmanship worked. J’Adore Dior!