Dior at the roots of couture

A manifesto of craftsmanship, in a season that puts the accent on savoir-faire in its broadest sense, of the ateliers that create haute couture, but also of all those small satellites that collaborate with the Maison, gems of ateliers scattered around the world, souls of a craftsmanship to be preserved and safeguarded. «I believe that today haute couture must be born from a conversation between different elements, because in addition to the ateliers in Paris, there are a myriad of realities with which we collaborate in order to make these unique creations», Maria Grazia Chiuri, soul of the Dior woman backstage at the s-s 2022 show, explained to MFF. «The canvas of the atelier is the starting point, the beginning of a process that involves other realities. The fashion narrative in which we emphasize a solitary creator on one side and the premières draping the dress on the mannequin on the other is a definitely romantic vision, but one that does not reflect the complexity of fashion. It must be said that today the process is different or else we risk losing that know-how that allows fashion to project itself into the future (see box on page II)».

Crusader for global craftsmanship, Maria Grazia Chiuri chooses the couture collection precisely because it launches her manifesto. And she does so by starting from the setting of the show: the giant tensile structure set up in the gardens of the Musée Rodin becomes an art gallery hosting monumental tapestries by Indian artists Madhvi and Manu Parekh, made by Mumbai’s Chanakya School of craft directed by Karishma Swali, with whom she has been collaborating for several years. These large, embroidered tableaux form the backdrop to the show and have required three months of work and a team of over 320 people committed to superimposing between six and seven layers of embroidery in order to create three-dimensional works of significant impact (the gallery-hall will remain open to the public until January 30 to allow visitors to discover the work of the two artists, ed). As a counterpoint to the colourful and abstract creations of the two artists, interested in describing the craftsmanship as a cultural and spiritual element, the clothes of the season: essential in their linearity, precise in their formal purity, luxuriously minimalist.

In the mood board of the season, Monsieur Christian Dior's passion for embroidery, the fulcrum of the season, is exalted. A photo of him, at the beginning of his career, together with the two brodeurs that accompanied him since then; details of embroidery that cemented the history of the Avenue Montaigne’s Maison; the poster of the exhibition at the Barbican in London that reads «Modern liberated radical obsessional couples», dedicated to couples in art. But also, the book by Elisabetta Orsini dedicated to the atelier as a place of exchange/confrontation and above all the cover of The subversive stitch, an essay that describes embroidery as a subversive act. «The whole collection revolves around the idea of embroidery. We started by reworking some motifs that populate the Dior imagery, choosing to approach it with a modern, almost futuristic, touch», the designer added. And the only frivolous concession in a collection that is the standard-bearer of an almost extreme essentiality is precisely the embroidery, which dresses the silhouette, covers the princess shoes or tinkles on the tights. The colours, with a symphony of whites, blacks and greys with hints of liquid silver. The geometric and linear shapes, the constructions, which have their roots in the culture of the atelier; the ethereal draperies; the plissés that move with every breath of air; the silks that seem to rest delicately on the body, the almost evanescent wells or the tulle that envelops the figure like a fine mist. The whole tells of a luxuriously chic minimalism: severe in the day, with perfectly constructed suits; dreamy in the evening, interpreter of a delicately powerful femininity, of dark velvet capes, of tunics slipping over the body, of dresses covered in light. Preaching a luxuriously discreet charm.

Judgment. «I think that today new languages should be found in couture, which must experiment to project itself into its tomorrow. Because even the customer is no longer what she used to be, she has a different lifestyle than in the past. Today's haute couture targets a much more assorted public», Maria Grazia Chiuri explained. With this show, she chose to explore a lighter and more feminine side of Dior's heritage. By bringing to the stage a series of outfits capable of narrating a haute couture that is light years away from spectacle and opulence. Contemporary. Real. A couture that speaks about today and to today. Embodying a hidden, discreet, whispered luxury. Interpreting a contemporaneity in which essence prevails over show-off.

At this point in time I think it is essential to make people understand that fashion is a process requiring connection between different elements. To make people understand that fashion is much more complex than it was told until now. Dior is not only the Avenue Montaigne’s atelier in Paris but it is all those satellites collaborating with us to carry out this project. It must be said today or the risk is to lose the know-how that allows this universe to project itself into the future. Dior's mission today is to preserve savoir-faire, wherever it may be found". The manifesto of Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative soul of the woman of the Lvmh Maison, is cried aloud in the backstage at the SS 2022 haute couture show. It became her personal goal. As she added: «There is no hierarchy between fashion and craftsmanship. My idea is to create a Bauhaus-like project, a community of exchange. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was worried about how this moment could impact the Italian, French or Indian supply chains».

The project that animated the show's set-up, designed four-handed with Mumbai’s Chanakya School of Craft, whose director is Karishma Swali, is included in this path. «We have known each other and we have been collaborating for years. Chanakya and the Chanakya School Of Craft are amazing entities and we are working with them to defend a culture. What was happening in India is what happened in Italy at some point, when the value of handed-down craftsmanship was being denigrated. Young people were being pushed towards other types of work than craftmanship. The artisan workshops, including embroidery, risked disappearing. The school aims to defend craftsmanship as a valuable and fundamental asset». (All rights reserved)