Dior's tech atelier

Paintings of women. Iconic paintings from past centuries. The girl with a pearl earring or the Lady with an ermine, transformed by the lens of artist Mariella Bettineschi to amaze the viewer. Four eyes, a black and white background to make us reflect on the historical moment. They surround the Dior fashion show room, conquering the gaze. Once again, Maria Grazia Chiuri calls a feminist artist to convey her idea of The next era, the title given to Bettineschi's artwork, the result of a work begun by the artist in 2008, in the midst of an economic crisis and which today enters into a dialogue with fashion.

«I wanted these women, who are the objects of paintings, to become protagonists», Bettineschi explained, «bringing them into our historical moment», in a comparison that, this season, also takes shape thanks to the use of technology and the involvement of the company D-Air lab, subsidiary of Dainese group. «My real challenge is to give life to a community dialogue between various worlds, in this case between the sartorial atelier and the technological one», the designer of womenswear at the Lvmh group maison explained.

She also cites the work of Gianfranco Ferré, during his creative direction period at Dior, as part of the constant process of re-reading the archives. The fashion architect who gave life to an icon such as the Lady Dior bag, protagonist on the catwalk together with key wardrobe items, shaped by technology, starting with the Bar Jacket which, thanks to the contribution of the D-Air lab studio, has been revisited with a system that regulates the body's humidity and warms it up. Or the corsets, tight on the body and with shapes that mimic the protective shells of motorcyclists' jackets, combined with disjointed, asymmetrical or pleated grisaille skirts.

Lace dialogues with technical fabrics and crystal crowns soften the faces of sporty women, conveying a statement that takes shape right from the first look: a jumpsuit with a sort of venous and arterial system of two different colours, maintaining constant temperature. Or the embroidery of technical mesh on raincoats or cashmere, water-repellent nylon that creates brocades with a worn effect or the new down jackets... Up to the shoes, inspired by the historical creations of Roger Vivier for the maison. Kitten hills crossed by mimosa embroidery accompanied by adjustable laces at the ankle to ensure comfort and safety.

Judgment. Maria Grazia Chiuri tells her very personal idea of creative contamination, by projecting the tradition of Dior’s ateliers into the future. The result is a well-balanced collection, capable of both making fashion functional and making functional fashion. With immediately desirable pieces. As she did since her debut at the creative direction of Dior’s womenswear.

Maria Grazia Chiuri: «Technology means concreteness. It is not just abstraction, as in the metaverse»

How did you approach Mariella Bettineschi's work?
Thanks to a mutual friendship. I had seen the catalogue with her work The next era. I found many similarities between her work and the process I apply to fashion. She is a feminist artist capable of questioning our history through her paintings.

Your work is a constant dialogue with the maison’s past. In this season you are quoting Gianfranco Ferré...
In this collection it was even more accurate. I wanted to re-elaborate in a personal way the Lady Dior, an icon of the maison who was created by Ferré himself. I reflected myself in his work as an architect and in the way he was able to give life to an accessory. An item that should not be seen, in my opinion, simply as a brand’s source of business but as something resulting from a true creative project.

What about the collaboration with D-Air lab?
It was my way of saying that technology is not just abstraction, as in the metaverse, it is also tailoring and concreteness. D-Air lab is an atelier creating garments for sports and extreme activities. I started an experimental path with them by mixing the aesthetic contents of our ateliers with functional technological elements. I have always studied how to make Dior's archival pieces more functional, thanks also to collaborations that expand the fashion’s territory.

What was your challenge?
Creating a dialogue between these two worlds. (All rights reserved)