Is it possible to celebrate haute couture while also offering a critical reading of it?
Is it possible to stay faithful to the strict rules decreed by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture while breaking them down to create a new order?
These are all questions that Dior designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, brings to the surface in this autumn-winter 2018-2019 haute couture collection.
Suits with bat-winged sleeves represent both the restrained and explosive, a major theme in the collection. Powdery colours (brick, green, pink and orange) with nudes is the palette for both the clothes and the accessories, with refined costume jewellery, veils, and hats that bring the collection to life. Pleated and layered evening dresses contrast with simple bustiers, offering a surprising dissonance. A red silk dress is sewn from a single piece of fabric, opening the way to a series of majestic and intimate creations.
For Maria Grazia Chiuri, this display of couture is akin to rebellion: a kind of ideological “guerrilla” that explodes on the frontiers of entrenched tradition, without ever overstepping them.
View the runway looks below.
