Dior goes blue for Paris Fashion Week
Blue is the colour that Maria Grazia Chiuri has given all the looks in her autumn-winter 2017 collection. In part, it echoes founder Christian Dior's belief that “navy blue is the only [colour] which can ever compete with black”, but it also revives the work of impressionist painters Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Paul Cezanne.
The Rodin Museum was lit the colour of romantic moonlight, and models walked out from a mystical fog before coming into the spotlight on the runway.
Chiuri made excellent use of Dior’s rich heritage. Ruth Bell opened the show with a jacket suit inspired by the Chevrier look from Dior’s haute couture autumn-winter 1949 collection. The 2017 version has a hint of sporty streetwear as Bell wore the lush suit with a cross body bag and accessoriesd with a choker.
The looks demonstrated how comfortable Chiuri is treading freely between the historical and contemporary.
From last season’s sold-out slogan T-shirt to the lineup of cool denim workwear this season, bomber jackets and capes, as well as the taffeta pleated dresses that are perfect for day-to-night wear, Chiuri’s speaking to a new legion of customers, many on the front row already making the Dior style their own.
Chinese actress Liu Yifei, for example, matched a nude tulle dress with blue denim jeans and leather biker jacket.
Although gaining new followers, Chiuri hasn't forgetten her core audience. Showcasing interpretations of workwear, she sent models down the runway in a slew of lavish gowns rendered in opulent velvet and degrade tulle. Lavish cosmic patterns were embroidered on tulle dresses.
Chiuri’s signatures were carried out perfectly at Dior ateliers. The collection oozes Parisian chic that is epitomised in the leather berets by Stephen Jones.
The stellar front row was graced by the likes of Rihanna, Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Rosamund Pike.
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Maria Grazia Chiuri’s feeling blue in her second ready-to-wear collection for Dior