Keeping it real
Maria Grazia Chiuri has been shaking up the style rules since she took the helm at Dior two years ago. Sheena Khemaney talks to the designer about haute couture and, yes, casual wear
it WAS BIG news in July 2016 when Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri took on the role of artistic director for Dior’s women’s collections. The first woman to head the storied fashion label’s creative department has since won over a new generation of socialmediasavvy customers (along with the brand’s existing sophisticated clientele) with timeless designs and her signature masculinemeetsfeminine aesthetic.
For her latest show — Haute Couture Autumn/winter 2018 — Chiuri brought us back to the Musée Rodin in Paris. The set, a large boxlike space on the grounds, was designed to resemble a haute couture atelier and featured a floortoceiling display of plain white garments from Dior’s archives adorning the walls. Most luxury brands pull out all the stops to showcase their elaborate couture creations, but Chiuri surprised showgoers with an array of daytonight ensembles that exuded effortless Parisian elegance. The understated looks and toneddown colour palette (a midnight blue draped silk crêpe cady day dress and a dull gold lamé Bar suit come to mind) drew all the attention to the craftsmanship — and that’s precisely what Chiuri wanted. TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST HAUTE COUTURE COLLECTION.
I tried to make a collection that’s plain and in the realest sense of haute couture because sometimes I think the idea of couture is that it’s something expensive so it must be really visible, but I wanted to explain that couture is an intimate and personal luxury. For instance, when you approach and buy couture only you know the value that there is in it. The value is in the travail de atelier (work done in the atelier) and the idea that it is one of a kind and that it is really only made for one person and for one body shape. That’s the story and the inspiration for this collection. SEVERAL PIECES FROM THIS COLLECTION LOOK CHIC BUT THEY ALSO LOOK PRACTICAL TO WEAR ALL DAY LONG. IS THIS YOUR WAY OF DESIGNING CLOTHES FOR WOMEN WITH BUSY LIFESTYLES? Absolutely. I don’t think it’s possible, especially now, to create something that’s not wearable because then, to me, it’s not real. I think we are supposed to give someone a dream and then make it possible for her to live this dream. I want to make a dress really dreamy and desirable but at the same time one that you can simply use in your [everyday] life. I want to dream every day and not just on special occasions.