PARIS — Fashion Week in the French capital got off to an auspicious start with a doozy of an opening day in which two major houses from LVMH and Kering Group showed on the same day. Both luxury conglomerates furnished their backstages with the requisite amenities outlined by the charter and time will about its efficacy. In the mean time, it was Maria Grazia Chiuri who opened the week’s proceedings with her Spring / Summer 2018 ready-to-wear collection for Dior. Bureau Betak erected a monumental runway in the sculpture garden at Musée Rodin. The elevation of the cavelike runway structure bore a passage from French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, which presaged ever more tributes to women artists all the way from reprinted single editions of Linda Nochlin’s seminal 1971 essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” laid on every seat to the printed slogans in various forms throughout the collection. This high / low approach to feminism certainly sets Dior apart from any other houses in the neighborhood as does the appointment of a woman creative director. This is not your grandmother’s Dior, however. Chiuri in many ways has brought Dior closer to a younger generation, possibly even Millennials. The clothes simply read younger. The efficacy of this shift remains to be seen, but like the abundance of charters backstage it cannot be missed. On the afternoon 11 models featured in the runway show including Grace Hartzel, Nandy Nicodème, Manuela Miloqui, Selena Forrest, Shujing Zhou, Moira Berntz, Leila Goldkuhl, Lineisy Montero, Maria Clara, Marjan Jonkman, and Binx.
Credits include: Client, Christian Dior; Collection, Ready-To-Wear Spring / Summer 2018; Creative design, Maria Grazi Chiuri; Styling, Karl Templer; Hair, Guido Palau; Makeup, Peter Philips; Show direction and production, Alexandre De Betak at Bureau Betak; Music direction, Michel Gaubert; Casting, Michelle Lee; Video, Damien Neva at Next Management.
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