Dior Fall Winter 2023-2024 Ready-to-Wear. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Dior / Adrien Dirand.

Well… to be completely honest… I’m trying to gather the words to describe this collection… I’ve seen worse but not many. This collection is supposed to be dedicated to 3 remarkable women: Catherine Dior, Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco. Nothing in this collection resembles, even from far, looks what these women had. 

It looks like once again Dior let Maria Grazia Chiuri out… And what have we’ve got: ugly oversized winter jackets, marina t-shirts, white blouses with black neck-ties, some weird washed leopard prints on coats and skirts, Paris map prints leftover from previous Spring Summer 2023 collection, Italian bra-outerwear, long badly tailored black skirts, and classic Dior dresses.

This collection looked even uglier in an absolutely outstanding installation by Joana Vasconcelos. A miracle wonder, the beautiful Valkiria installation by this artist was the only marvel to look at. And invited guests were looking. 

I haven’t seen so many people who didn’t take photos or videos at the show, people who were messaging without looking at the show, people who were whispering “Oh… that is not good”…  

But apparently Maria Grazia Chiuri felt very happy about the show, as once again she did what she really wanted – 96 ugly butch looks.

And it feels very sad… well… after all everyone will remember this collection only by its decor.

Press-release (which has nothing to do with the collection)

For Maria Grazia Chiuri, each collection is an opportunity to reflect on what exactly clothing is in relationship to the body and to fashion.

The reinterpretation of the 1950s – for this Dior ready-to-wear line – is also a means for the creative director to explore, in ever new ways, the history of Dior and to further delve into french style by focusing on three extraordinary figures: Catherine Dior, Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco. These three women shared an independent spirit that guided their choices. Singular protagonists, each of them was able, through their lifestyle, to subvert feminine stereotypes that were part of the post-war mind set.

For Catherine Dior, this was accomplished through her choice to grow and sell flowers as a message of hope. For Edith Piaf and Juliette Gréco, it was through their voices and their supreme stage presence. Expressing the soul of Paris or inspired by existentialist thinking, they created a wardrobe that reappropriated their heritage and staged it in a narrative marked by physical emotion and the intense rhythm of poems, literary texts turned into unforgettable songs. The experience of clothing is the tactile embodiment of a form of thinking, a means of approaching, of tuning into the world.

This Dior collection is the very signature of a femininity that goes against the grain. Rebellious. At once strong and fragile. The floral motifs chosen by monsieur dior have been revisited: mottled fabric is interwoven with a metallic thread that breathes life into the fabric, rendering it malleable, erasing contours to obtain an abstract effect. Primary colors take center stage: ruby, emerald, topaz yellow, blue. Delicately nuanced tartan fabrics distinguish coats, jackets and straight skirts, which can also be worn beneath large coats, like the “corolle” skirts. Poplin also shimmers with metallic thread. Embroidery composes little bursts of light.

Celebrating the kaleidoscopic image of a femininity outlined by powerful icons, inhabited with awareness, these creations suggest emotional paths for the new generations of women shaping our future.

VALKYRIE MISS DIOR by Joana Vasconcelos

Photos: Adrien Dirand

See all looks Dior Fall Winter 2023-2024