Dior AW23 – Paris Fashion Week
Meg Parrott reviews the new collection from Maria Grazia Chiuri at PFW
A godly, fighting figure, Valkyrie evokes the courageous female spirit in Norse mythology. It’s thus fitting it was also the name of the technicolour installations by artist Joana Vasconcelos that staged the Dior AW23 show at Paris Fashion Week. The House has been encapsulating this this spirt for 77 years, only this time, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri traded the sword for the iconic Saddle bag, and the shield for chic knits. Here, the protagonist retained her strength in this tale. But her armour came modernised for today.
Bristling feminine energy stood in tandem with Chiuri’s inspirations: Parisienne’s who ooze the utmost elegance. As such, the legacies of three of the House’s most lauded muses were omnipresent on the catwalk; singers Édith Piaf and the famously black-clad Juliette Gréco, along with Mr. Dior’s younger sister, resistance fighter and acclaimed horticulturalist, Catherine. This ‘re-reading of the 1950s’ delved deep into chic French style, disseminating the warrior sensibility whilst harnessing the rebellious vivacity of the Maison and its admirers.
Harking back to the seminal 1947 New Look collection, full midi skirts with cinched waists and softer A-lines brought back the hourglass silhouettes of the day. Chiuri’s Mediterranean debonair prioritised freedom with open shirting and loose hanging outerwear to salute the liberty ushered in by the Post-War wardrobe.
The journey into Mr. Dior’s archives took in strolls through his sister’s gardens with strokes of scarlet, ochre and cobalt on painterly florals. By contrast, diversions into Gréco’s signature monochrome wardrobe came through the lens of shoulder-skimming boleros, ruched jewelled mesh and gilded eveningwear to prove a minimal palette still dazzles.
Towards the end, Chiuri’s trademark printed T-Shirt reappeared as a charming reminder. ‘Je ne regrette rien,’ it read, in honour of Piaf. The Dior AW23 woman may have no regrets, but she will have an abundance of style this winter.
To read our review of the Giorgio Armani show from MFW, click here
Click here for more information on Dior AW23
