Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri Delved Into French Post-War Style

The new Dior collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri was unveiled in Paris amid an enormous, site-specific textile installation by artist Joana Vasconcelos.

For her Dior Fall/Winter 2023-2024 collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri delved into French post-War style, inspired by three icons of the 1950s, Catherine Dior—Christian Dior’s sister—Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco.

For Maria Grazia Chiuri, each collection is an opportunity to reflect on what exactly clothing is in relationship to the body and to fashion.

The reinterpretation of the 1950s – for this Dior autumn-winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear line – is also a means for the Creative Director to explore, in ever new ways, the history of Dior and to further delve into French style by focusing on three extraordinary figures: Catherine Dior, Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco. These three women shared an independent spirit that guided their choices. Singular protagonists, each of them was able, through their lifestyle, to subvert feminine stereotypes that were part of the post-war mind set.

For Catherine Dior, this was accomplished through her choice to grow and sell flowers as a message of hope. For Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco, it was through their voices and their supreme stage presence. Expressing the soul of Paris or inspired by existentialist thinking, they created a wardrobe that reappropriated their heritage and staged it in a narrative marked by physical emotion and the intense rhythm of poems, literary texts turned into unforgettable songs. The experience of clothing is the tactile embodiment of a form of thinking, a means of approaching, of tuning into the world.

Against the backdrop of a bold and organic décor entitled Valkyrie Miss Dior, a monumental work created by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, the silhouettes expressed a femininity that goes against the grain, at the same time rebellious, strong and fragile.

Floral motifs, a nod to the legacy of Catherine Dior, embellished mottled effect or poplin fabrics. Coats, jackets and straight or “corolle” skirts come in tartan fabrics. Black – a color that Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco cherished – is predominant throughout the fashion show, but there are also shades of ruby, emerald, topaz yellow and blue.

This Dior collection is the very signature of a femininity that goes against the grain. Rebellious. At once strong and fragile. The floral motifs chosen by Monsieur Dior have been revisited: mottled fabric is interwoven with a metallic thread that breathes life into the fabric, rendering it malleable, erasing contours to obtain an abstract effect. Primary colors take center stage: ruby, emerald, topaz yellow, blue. Delicately nuanced tartan fabrics distinguish coats, jackets and straight skirts, which can also be worn beneath large coats, like the “corolle” skirts. Poplin also shimmers with metallic thread. Embroidery composes little bursts of light.

Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a navy ‘Lady D-Joy’ tote and a lizard-effect shoulder bag. Pearls accentuate chokers and ‘Dior Tribales’ earrings, some with Eiffel Tower charms, and slouchy, long leather gloves convey a contrasting femininity to the delicacy of a woven straw tiara.