Dior unveils ‘protective’ clothing for a time of crisis
Paris: Dior´s show at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday struck a sombre tone, with designer Maria Grazia Chiuri telling her focus on combining “beauty and protection” was apt for a time of war.
The collection was put together long before the Russian military began bombarding Ukraine last week.
But with Dior´s models sporting a range of protective gear — from shoulder pads to airbag corsets to tops that looked distinctly like bulletproof vests — it was hard not to think of the news from eastern Europe.
Even before the Ukraine conflict, “the world was already at war”, said Chiuri, Dior´s artistic director for women, ahead of the show.
“Covid was another form of war. We have all experienced some very difficult months,” she said.
“There is a lot of reflection, in these difficult times, about how to combine beauty, aesthetics and protection.”
The 58-year-old Italian designer said her latest creations were aimed at finding technical solutions that can be more functional for women´s bodies.
They included a high-tech reworking of Christian Dior´s most iconic creation, the Bar jacket.
“Clothes are themselves a form of protection… they reassure us. That aspect is very present in what I do — emotional protection as well as protection in its proper sense,” she said.
A committed feminist, Chiuri sees the current crisis as further proof of the failings of a male-dominated society.
“The problem is cultural and patriarchal. There must be more women in decision-making positions. There would be fewer wars,” she said.
The autumn-winter shows were supposed to mark Paris Fashion Week´s return to near-normal, with almost all labels back to holding public events as pandemic restrictions ease across Europe.
But the war in Ukraine has cast a pall, with organisers issuing a statement on Monday urging attendees to experience the shows “with solemnity, and in reflection of these dark hours”. (AFP)
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