You rather got the impression that Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri was in a forthright mood ahead of presenting her SS24 collection, which kicked off Paris Fashion Week in style. As the show begun, stark feminist statements flashed across 7-metre long giant screens looking down on the runway. ‘Your body is poetic. Your body is political,’ read one. ‘Take your hands off when I say no. Take your eyes off when I say no. I say no,’ went another. In many ways, Chiuri was doing what she’s done before with her Dior shows: putting feminism at the heart. But, unlike previous shows which have been inspired by strong women such as Frida Khalo, this felt more confronting; more urgent.
‘The space of the runway becomes a political one where new forms of activism can take place,’ Chiuri said of the video installation by artist Elina Bellantoni, designed to question the stereotypical narratives around femininity and womanhood. But it wasn’t just the set that was making a statement. Chiuri had taken the same approach to the collection, deconstructing the classic Dior waspish waist silhouette for something looser and more louche.
‘Mr Dior always emphasised the waist,’ Chiuri said backstage, ‘but I want to play with the silhouette. With dresses like the T-shirt dress I wanted to create a straighter shape because it’s more adaptable to women’s bodies.’
What that meant was a collection heavy on beautifully-cut classics that looked timeless but also effortless; these were easy-going clothes that, crucially, were easy to wear. Shirts and shirt dresses came with oversized, undone cuffs, or deconstructed to expose one shoulder, almost as if the model had shrugged half of it off in the heat. Knitted dresses were relaxed and paired with fabric ballet flats. Denim featured heavily. There were white denim shorts and a jacket with distressed details that made it look beaten-up, even grungy. Meanwhile, camera phones lifted in unison to film a pair of true-blue relaxed jeans that looked like the type that would only get better with age. One of Dior’s famous bar jacket came with a distressed hem. There was even an anorak of sorts.
Backstage, Chiuri also said that she’d been inspired by Witches – or, as she put it, the unconventional women throughout history that hadn’t conformed to the standard set by men. There were plenty of those on the front row, too. Hollywood legends Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence were joined by new talents Jenna Ortega and Rachel Zegler, who sat alongside tennis player Emma Raducanu and Bianca Jagger.
No doubt they’ll be hoping the strikes draw to an end and there are ample red-carpet opportunities again to wear the multitude of pretty sheer black dresses, some embellished with floral motifs inspired by medicinal plants used by witchdoctors of old. For us mere mortals, start saving for the accessories. The long biker boots looked like the comfiest shoes we’ve seen all fashion month and gave the sheer skirts they were paired with a cool-girl edge. Meanwhile, as one of the models swung her Dior duffle bag over her shoulder as she sashayed down the catwalk it was clear these clothes were made for women with places to go and work to do. But who want to look chic whilst doing it. Now that’s magic.
