Marie Grazia Chiuri took inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman goddesses when developing Dior’s Spring Summer 2020 Collection. While simultaneously maintaining Dior’s design DNA, Chiuri begins to challenge how far haute couture silhouettes can be taken and ask “Are Clothes Modern?”
In line with the “Goddess” inspired clothing, the question “What if Women Ruled the World?” often asked by American artist Judy Chicago remained at the heart of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s design philosophy when creating the Spring-Summer 2020 haute couture collection.
Presented at the Musée Rodin, the 2,500 year old peplos took center stage; originally developed as body length women’s garment in Ancient Greece, Dior’s interpretation is much like a modern day evening dress. The drape of the ancient inspired garments in the collection were complemented by counterparts of the collection in fitted jackets with loose collars paired with skirts and pants. Uncommon patterns such as, houndstooth and herringbone were incorporated to give the collection a more powerful masculine edge without comprising on Dior’s feminine design details.
Judy Chicago, whose well received installation at Musée Rodin titled “The Female Divine,” is said to “serve as a sanctuary, a stage and a monumental artwork for the Dior Spring-Summer 2020 haute couture collection.” It was Maria Grazia Chiuri’s mission to highlight the ideas of American Feminist art and give new life to the ‘divine conception of femininity.’
With each and every new season, Dior pushes their Creative Director to immerse them-self in a particular subject to develop a unique theme with a “singular vision.” With this collection Chiuri appears to have pushed herself to find the line between ‘ feminism and femininity’ while simultaneously ” re-sculpting the body like a manifesto.”
Image credit: © Dior, provided courtesy of LVMH
