Dior does full justice to French flair for protest
“DID you know there was a demonstration outside the Dior boutique in 1966 calling for more miniskirts?” said Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s creative director, shortly before the autumn/winter show yesterday – an unapologetic smash and grab of the sartorial spirit permeating that era, albeit reproduced using some of the most expensive techniques and fabrics in the business.
Across France this year, there’s a constellation of exhibitions marking the 50th anniversary of the civil unrest in 1968. Chiuri did full justice to the French flair for Protest Chic. CND symbols on cashmere jumpers were interspersed with long and short kilts, sheer ruffled dresses, peaked caps, polo necks, flat walking boots and the softest, glossiest black leather jackets. Studded bag straps (woven, hippy-style) were slung across stunning patchwork jackets inspired by Chiuri’s latest bedtime reading: The Subversive Stitch, Rozsika Parker’s 1984 book that examines the way women’s crafts were marginalised outside the mainstream definitions of art. Like Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director, Chiuri has an intuitive grasp of the zeitgeist and a knack of churning out commercial hits.