Maria Grazia Chiuri’s star-studded Dior show takes Paris Fashion Week on a sensory dance

Christian Dior led Paris Fashion Week on a sensual dance on Monday with a spectacular show woven around a new modern dance piece by choreographer Sharon Eyal to kick off the nine-day extravaganza. Icily restrained models brushed past writhing dancers in a performance specially created by the acclaimed Israeli in a fog of mist and falling paper petals. Gosling in Gucci, Hoult in Dior – who won Venice’s Oscar for best dressed man? Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said that using dance was “an act of liberation” to break free from the catwalk corset. She said she wanted to replicate dance’s “rigorous discipline and extreme freedom” in a striking collection full of flesh tones and nifty headwear. Pirouetting deftly from Martha Graham-style robes fit for Greek goddesses to elongated tutus and hip-hop tank tops, the Italian blurred the lines between ready-to-wear and haute couture. View this post on Instagram Located somewhere between a baby doll dress and an opera coat, a densely gathered and flaring featherlight taffeta dress in the Spring-Summer 2019 show from #MariaGraziaChiuri stood away from the body with a lightly-worn ease that belied its assured elegance. #DiorSS19 Choreographer: @SharonEyalDance A post shared by Dior Official (@dior) on Sep 25, 2018 at 3:01am PDT Chiuri, a committed feminist and the first woman to lead the fabled French house, said her clothes were not about “bodily perfection but about flexibility and strength of movement”. She also insisted that like each dancer, every look was individual. Michael Kors takeover talk overshadows Versace’s spring-summer collection show at Milan Fashion Show “It is about liberty. There are none of the sequences you usually get in fashion shows; each look is for each model,” she said. Channelling the ghosts of dance greats such Isadora Duncan and Pina Bausch, Chiuri said she was trying to capture the “powerful explosion of the female imagination”. View this post on Instagram Powerful beams of light illuminate a dramatically dark showspace in a mysterious storm of white rose petals. Something truly unforgettable is about to happen... Trust us, you won’t be disappointed! © Adrien Dirand A post shared by Dior Official (@dior) on Sep 24, 2018 at 6:17am PDT The show – held in a specially built auditorium at the Longchamps racecourse on the edge of Paris – was a hymn to the carnal and the fleshily human, she said. Armani’s pastel and silver collection defines the shape of colour at Milan Fashion Week “These days everything seems virtual, but we do things by hand in our workshops,” Chiuri said. “All the floral printing the tie-dye is done by hand, it’s couture, it’s not industrial.” Misty Instagram queens View this post on Instagram Never let it be said that @BlakeLively doesn’t know how to work a crowd! Ever before she entered the showspace to discover the Spring-Summer 2019 collection by #MariaGraziaChiuri, the fun-loving actress won over our photographers - and pre-empted the dance piece inside - with a tongue-in-cheek performance of her very own! #StarsinDior A post shared by Dior Official (@dior) on Sep 26, 2018 at 4:04am PDT View this post on Instagram For Spring-Summer 2019, Monsieur Dior's beloved flowers were interpreted in a fresh way by #MariaGraziaChiuri who took those floral motifs and tie-dyed them to create visually mottled and striated prints that bloomed across dancer-inspired loose coats and softly swishing skirts and dresses. #DiorSS19 Choreographer: @SharonEyalDance Music: #OriLichtik A post shared by Dior Official (@dior) on Sep 25, 2018 at 5:32am PDT With all the billowing dry ice, the designer also wanted to frustrate the front-row Instagram queens who spend their time snapping the shows rather than looking at the clothes. “People miss the moment because they are spending their time taking photos with their phones,” she said. People miss the moment because they are spending their time taking photos with their phones. I wanted them to experience a show differently ... to feel it Maria Grazia Chiuri, designer, Christian Dior “I wanted them to experience a show differently ... to feel it. “It is dance and a fashion show – it is not a traditional catwalk experience at all.” Even so Chiuri – who is known for her sharp eye for accessories – appeared to have hit the social media bullseye with her skin-tone square front-window sunglasses and “CD” (for Christian Dior) belt buckles that were being shared on Instagram within minutes. Ferragamo collection features shades of the Tuscan countryside at Milan Fashion Week The designer began with typically austere and ethereal monochrome black and white tulle dresses before sending out a shimmering run of skin-tone looks followed by muted greens, greys, ivory and navy blues. Fishnet and embroidered dresses and tights ran through a sizeable slice of the collection that was as also strong on classily muted florals, tie-dye and restrained ethnic edging. The woman who has helped make the French beret hip again created a new feather-light version for spring and summer as well as more tightfitting skull caps with British hat designer Stephen Jones, also wrapping her models heads in two rounds of taupe-coloured ribbon. Chiuri finished the show by giving the classic 1950s New Look Dior fitted jacket a radical chic upgrade, matching it with combat trousers and even bleached denim trousers. Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter