Fantasy fashion
Tarot cards and mystic muses — inside Dior’s otherworldly couture collection
AT its essence couture is about fantasy, and Dior delivered otherworldliness in bounds with the fashion film it released to debut its spring/summer 2021 haute couture collection.
Partnering again with film director Matteo Garrone, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s collection was inspired by tarot cards; a nod to Christian Dior who consulted his clairvoyant on all major decisions.
Entitled Le Château du Tarot, the film, which was shot in the 17th-century Tuscan castle of Sammezzano, opened with a fortune teller inviting a girl to pick a card.
She then embarks on a journey of self-discovery through the labyrinthine corridors of a mysterious castle.
Chiuri and Garrone took their inspiration from a 15th-century tarot deck that belonged to the Duke of Milan, and the gold, enamel, interlaced geometry and flora that decorates the ancient cards was echoed throughout the clothes.
Balancing the masculine and feminine were Grecian gold lame jacquard gowns, Regency necklines and pearl-encrusted headbands worthy of a Bridgerton ball on one side, and high-wasted jacquard cigarette pants paired with floral appliqué breastplates on the other. Illustrations by artist Pietro Ruffo were worked into several designs.
This was no happy ever after though, as attested to by ballgowns embroidered with skull and cross bones.
While quietly stormy, the collection suggested that event dressing might, eventually, be on the cards for the Dior client.