“Are Clothes Modern?” was the subject of fascination for Maria Grazia Chiuri after she read the 1947 essay of the same name. It was penned down by Bernard Rudofsky, the Austrian-American writer and contemporary of Christian Dior. With this collection, Chuiri wanted to change the way people looked at women friendly couture. She also used the concept the architecture for the Fall’19 Collection. The relation between Dior and architectural elements forms the basics. Clothes, Chiuri believes is our first home: We live in them, and they should be comfortable.

With these thoughts in mind, Chiuri hired Penny Slinger, a London-American artist of the 1960’s to design the set. Slinger designed a beautiful garden with an arch swarmed over with vibrant flowers. It was the only bright spot of the whole set. A giant, gnarled tree with an ancient trunk, branches and protrusions twisted up the stairwell of Dior’s recently vacated headquarters. The tree anchored an extraordinary, enchanting enclave which showed elements of fantasy yet it was derived from the natural world. “We’re trying to celebrate and memorialize this feminine spirit, the muse… and so she is embodied in this whole work in different forms and combined and mutated with all the different elements, and so we brought the Tree of Life right into the center of the house, ” Slinger added.

“In fashion, there’s the idea that there’s a minimalist, more functional world, and a decorative world that is more dysfunctional. But they’re not always contradictions.”

Chiuri’s statement flowed through her collection as she played on these contrasts. She mostly used black throughout her collection though she used different materials for her pieces( velvet, lamé, Lurex-shot chiffon jacquard) throughout her collection to bring out diversity. The collection was simple yet exquisite. The show opened with people and went on to the ball gowns. But there was a vibe of ease and comfort. The ballgowns looked weightless and there was a sense of ease as the models glided in them across the runway. Chiuri also used a lot of veiling in her looks, though they were not limited to just face masks but were also used in the clothing as mesh especially in shirts beneath coats and in skirts. Overall, her evening wear collection was quiet beautiful.

Picture Courtesy of  – Alessandro Lucioni

Also Read – Fall’19 Couture: Dundas