This past Monday, the sixth of July, the House of Dior released a fourteen-minute short film to display their newest womenswear collection. The film was directed by a friend of the Creative Director Maria Grazia- the Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone who recreated a setting similar to ones detailed in Greek mythology with a mossy forest and sparkling waters. This created a contrast with the modern atelier shown at the start of the film, where the collection was presented on miniature mannequins, channeling the 1945 Théâtre de la Mode, where Dior created a traveling exhibition using dolls which was displayed to promote couture after WWII.
The mannequins are put into a large trunk, then carried by two men decorated in uniform and through a journey over this ethereal landscape female mythological creatures are offered one of the dresses. These creatures, consisting of beings like a group of freshwater nymphs, a mermaid, a dryad and even Medusa, later change into these dresses and happily continue their magical lives wearing high fashion.
The inspiration behind the collection was nature mixed with fantasy and female Surrealist figures like Lee Miller, Dora Maar and Jacqueline Lamba. These women were not only muses, but artists of immense talent that were able to break stereotypes of only being beautiful. “Surrealist images manage to make visible what is in itself invisible. I’m interested in mystery and magic, which are also a way of exorcising uncertainty about the future,” Grazia stated in a press release. The collection consists of 37 dresses, with Grecian pleats, fabrics like tulle, silk and tweed, all in muted color palette.
The fashion film is the first ever digital release that Dior has created, and it’s not entirely awful for something Maria Grazia has her hand in. Other brands have made fashion films before, and this one is somewhat enjoyable; the storyline and background make it a type of mythical daydream, and one can feel the model’s emotions wearing the dresses. But there many issues fashion fanatics have been discussing regarding this film. First of all, every person making an appearance in the film is white… every single one. There is not a singular model or actor that does not have a pale skin tone. This is problematic for obvious reasons, but not unexpected. Grazia has a past of cultural appropriation and racism, so for her to completely forget people of color does not surprise me. That does not take away from the fact that one of the biggest fashion houses is so regressive and they don't care to notice (simply or don't care at all) about their obvious lack of inclusivity. Grazia’s female muse inspiration may have had a feminist intent, but if anything, it shows that Dior’s feminism is anything but intersectional – can women of color not be as beautiful or divine as mythological creatures? All the models participating in Le Mythe Dior are gorgeous, but white women have had the spotlight for years, and Dior is promoting a closed-minded idea of beauty. Grazia has pulled this fake feminist, “woke” look in past collections, but it does not seem revolutionary or making a statement, it comes off as try hard and tone deaf.
Besides an obvious lack of effort towards contributing to creating an inclusive fashion industry, there’s also a lack of effort towards creating innovative designs. The collection itself is fine (definitely not the worst of a Grazia collection…) but that’s it – the dresses are pretty, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The silhouettes and designs don’t are elegant and feminine, but you can be elegant and feminine without being utterly boring. I’m not saying you shouldn’t like the collection – art is subjective, after all – but we need to take into account that we are talking about Dior. Dior became one of the most important fashion houses and one of the most well-known names because of Christian Dior’s innovation, his New Look, the way his designs were completely different from anything the fashion world has seen before at the time. Dior was a synonym of modern femininity and revolutionary designs. Maria Grazia’s Dior may also be feminine and modern, to an extent, but her collections seem to be the same idea in a slightly different format, or she simply takes whats trending currently and gives it a not so obvious twist. What is Dior? Looking at her collections, her objective seems all over the place. Maria Grazia is stuck, and she’s been stuck for a long time. This is why fashion fanatics worship John Galliano (who coincidentally has also had his fair share of a racist past…); Galliano’s Dior was extremely out of the box, taking old concepts and modernizing them to create designs never seen before that the public adored and still adore to this day, mixing the past and present to create unique shows that could never be recreated. Every creative designer has their own touch and ideas, but they know how to emulate the brand’s personality and create designs that resonate with the house. Maria Grazia, who has been working for Dior since 2016, seems to be lost and doesn’t know how to bring the house back at the level of revolutionary it was before.
I doubt Dior will ever become totally irrelevant – a brand that huge won’t be knocked down easily. That doesn’t mean Dior won’t be slowly ruined. How can this be fixed? First, Maria Grazia needs to find a way to appeal to the modern public, and modernize her designs without following every trend that passes in a attempt to stay interesting. Another choice could be replacing Maria Grazia all together and giving the opportunity to a younger, more aware designer that understands what Dior stands for and how to make it the revolutionary, unique brand it used to be. Besides that, Maria Grazia needs to stop calling herself a feminist if the only woman she cares to represent is a skinny white female. If Dior is meant to make every woman feel beautiful and elegant, she needs to make sure she is taking into account every woman. Representation, innovation, knowing your public and knowing the history of your brand is the key to staying relevant in the fashion industry.
This season's collection was pretty, but I'm hoping next season Maria Grazia will prove me wrong and knock me off my feet.