Yesterday, on March 8th, International Women’s Day, Dior chose to once again tell women’s stories through fashion on this special day. The brand’s Fall/Winter 2021 show was held in the famous Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Despite being surrounded by magnificent decorations, Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri did not present the collection in a dazzling way. Instead, she highlighted the theme she wanted to express – the anxieties women face in survival, as well as the suppression and strength within their hearts – with an atmosphere of nightfall and shadows cast by the darkness.
Before the grand show began, the brand invited 5 female illustrators to create animated trailers for the show. They are Aisha Madu, Marion Fayolle, Noriko Okaku, Cherubini, and Bárbara Cerro. Through the world of animation, they share their interpretations of women, exploring fairy tale worlds from extraordinary perspectives, subverting stereotypes, and interpreting the qualities of confident and fearless contemporary women.
This season, Dior’s inspiration comes from British feminist writer Angela Carter’s gothic fairy tale “The Bloody Chamber” and Perrault’s fairy tales, aiming to tell everyone that fairy tales are not a symbol of escaping reality, but a courage to question, challenge, and break stereotypes.
The gender politics hidden in fairy tales, the negative emotions of women, are understood in “The Bloody Chamber” as a restoration of fairy tales and a reclaiming of women’s discourse. Through the voice of fairy tales, Maria Grazia Chiuri depicts rich and colorful female images, with headscarves and cap designs reminiscent of “Little Red Riding Hood” appearing prominently in the collection, much like the reinterpretation by Angela Carter, giving it a deeper meaning. Headscarves and cap designs have thus become important items for this season, expected to be the next hot fashion items for the next season.
This season, although released in a gothic fairy tale environment, the dark tones are different from Dior’s usual fresh and bright style, but looking closely at the details of the clothing still reflects the brand’s consistent exquisite tailoring and craftsmanship.
In the series of chiffon skirts, in addition to soft romantic colors, a large amount of black or dark colors give it a deeper meaning, symbolizing the restrained yet profound power of women. This is also the “feminine style” of the new era that Maria Grazia Chiuri, the female creative director of the French old-fashioned house, has been creating for the brand.
圖片和影片來源：Dior
