.new collection
DIOR Spring/Summer 24
A Haute Couture Odyssey in the Rodin Museum
written Alban E. Smajli
The Dior Spring-Summer 2024 Haute Couture show in the Rodin Museum gardens was a spectacle where art and fashion collided in a riot of creativity.
Orchestrated by artist Isabella Ducrot, the installation "Big Aura," with its twenty-three oversized dresses, redefined the space into a vivid tableau, resonating with haute couture's grandeur.
Christian DIOR
Haute Couture Show Finale
seen & courtesy Adrien Dirand
Maria Grazia Chiuri, the maven behind Dior's women's collections, ventured into the essence of haute couture for this collection, embracing Walter Benjamin's concept of 'aura'. Each piece, unique and bespoke, was a testament to haute couture's evolution and personalization.
At the core of this narrative was the iconic "La Cigale" dress by Christian Dior from 1952. Its sculptural form and moiré fabric symbolized the sacred craft of the Atelier, merging art and apparel. The collection showcased a spectrum of iridescent hues over moiré fabric, a tribute to Christian Dior's legacy.
Chiuri's designs echoed architectural elegance. She revisited and reinterpreted details from Dior's archives, creating contemporary silhouettes that celebrated the versatility of materials, blending innovation with timelessness.
The collection show was a visual poem: Black velvet dresses flowed elegantly, while an opulent feather cape adorned an embroidered double organza dress. The Millefiori motif on a yellow moiré dress and the sway of long threads with each step illustrated the dynamic, living art.
Isabella Ducrot's "Big Aura" elevated the show, with its colossal dresses symbolizing the aura Chiuri sought to capture. The installation's presence and scale brought to mind the regality of Ottoman sultans, using exaggerated dimensions as a metaphor for haute couture's grandeur and dignity.
Ducrot's use of checkered patterns, typically associated with the ordinary, brought a fresh perspective to high fashion. This pattern, often linked to manual labor, was reimagined, challenging traditional views of value and beauty in materials.
The Dior S/S24 collection, set against the backdrop of "Big Aura," is a masterful blend of art, history, and contemporary fashion.
It´s an embodiment of haute couture's transformative power, bridging past and future, ordinary and extraordinary. Chiuri's designs and Ducrot's art made the show a testament to haute couture's enduring allure and relevance in the modern world.
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(c) DIOR Haute Couture SS24
header group shot seen & courtesy Laura Sciacovelli