Dior Fall/Winter 2024: Feminine Essence through the Lens of Miss Dior 1967
Rediscovering a contemporary voice with a radically different notion of women’s liberation from “Miss Dior 1967” through the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 collection.
While other luxury brands are striving to grasp the current trends fervently endorsed by fashion enthusiasts to consolidate their positions, Maria Grazia Chiuri has chosen a very distinctive path for the French fashion house by unveiling the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 collection inspired by the contemporary archives of Dior’s past, laying the groundwork for the brand’s strong transition at the present moment.
In the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri brings forth a runway filled with nostalgia, with designs inspired by the past of the “Miss Dior 1967” collection. The respect for predecessor Marc Bohan by Maria Grazia Chiuri is not only manifested through minimalist colors, timeless silhouettes of the 60s, but also in the way the Italian designer incorporates patterns reminiscent of the art form into graffiti patterns on the designs to convey her sincerity.
Returning to the past of 1967 – a period when not only Dior but the entire haute couture landscape began to undergo significant changes, Marc Bohan succeeded Yves Saint Laurent’s mission to make Christian Dior a leader in shaping sophistication, bringing a definition of elegance and sophistication specifically for the upper class through collections. Also during that time, the French giant presented the global billion-dollar fashion industry map named Miss Dior – another luxury branch of the brand for young people, with affordable prices and wardrobes filled with simple and sleek designs.
Marc Bohan joined Dior during a transitional period and successfully revolutionized the brand’s iconic image. Focusing on clean, sophisticated lines, far removed from the “bulky” designs of his predecessor, Yves Saint Laurent. Always placing women at the forefront, Bohan’s designs focused on honoring elegance in simplicity. Marc Bohan’s design philosophy is encapsulated in the motto: “N’oubliez pas la femme” (translated as: “Don’t forget the woman”). Indeed, a design revolution was opened up not only in Dior’s long-standing heritage but also had a significant impact on fashion trends at that time. As Marc Bohan pioneered the removal of “standards of beauty” such as corsets, intricate petticoats, replacing them with streamlined garment structures, mass-produceable and suitable for mainstream tastes as well as the era.
Continuing the legacy, the idea of women’s liberation blending into contemporary discourse with strength was conveyed through the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 collection. The archive with iconic designs of the French luxury house such as A-line dresses, turtleneck sweaters, oversized puffer jackets with waist accents, … were remade by Chiuri with a modern breath, enhanced by trendy patterns such as: checkerboard patterns with dominant black and white tones, quilted collars with vertical stitches, double-breasted vests with royal British classic collars, …
When unveiled at the Paris Fashion Week runway, many questions arose about whether the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 collection would become a replica of Miss Dior from the past or not? Then, the buttoned-down shirts with a carefree attitude, golden necklaces accentuating neutral-colored outfits, A-line skirts paired with seductive black tights,… all contemporary elements emerging vividly under Chiuri’s modern artistic perspective will be the justified answer to those inquiries.
Alongside that, the indigenous inspiration and nature of 1967 with wicker patterns, bamboo and rattan materials were also reproduced in the Dior Fall/Winter 2024 show. If in the 60s, Italian artist Gabriella Crespi contributed to creating familiar natural spaces, in 2024, multimedia artist Shakuntala Kulkarni was chosen by Maria Grazia Chiuri to arrange the audience space. Still the runway with bamboo and rattan, however, in the mysteries of the beauty of the body, of the soul of a woman is the soul of traditional bamboo armor, the rattan of Indian female warriors.
Choosing inspiration from one of the most iconic collections in Dior’s archives against the backdrop of a slew of competitors such as Gucci Fall/Winter 2024, YSL Fall/Winter 2024 racing to catch up with the new trends of the French fashion scene, has become a topic of interest and discussion for fashion enthusiasts and critics alike. However, in terms of the communication effectiveness of the show and the brand’s communication strategy, Dior may have achieved its desired outcome.
Immediately after a series of media reports on the long-awaited collaboration of Dior and fashion icon Rihanna after 9 long years, in the recent show, Dior has successfully stirred up all fronts on social media platforms thanks to the attraction of the brand’s ambassadors, notably two artists from South Korea such as: Jisoo (BLACKPINK) and Mingyu (SEVENTEEN).