The most recent Dior cruise show was held in Mexico City, paying tribute to one of the greatest female artists of all time: Frida Khalo.
The location was not accidental. As a tribute to Frida's contribution in promoting local traditions and art, the show took place at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, which is where Kahlo studied, and where she met her husband, Diego Rivera.
First contact Maria Grazia Chiuri had with Kahlo's work was back when the creative director was a teenager and it made a strong impact on her “I first saw her work at an exhibition in Rome when I was a teenager, the first show I’d ever seen by a woman artist, and it made a lifelong impression,” “It really touched me deeply. Her work is so inspiring for women. What she did for her time was unbelievable.”
Some looks were a tribute to Frida's personal choices, such as the rose-pink look that evokes the dress Frida wears in her 1932 work, “Self Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States” , while there were others reffering to the way Kahlo played with gender boundaries. Chiuri said: “She spoke about gender, about identity, which was incredible for her time. She spoke about everything we discuss today. She was pioneering. Androgynous pieces were inspired by Frida's preference for breaking gender barriers. For this cruise collection, Chiuri has imaginated a various series of feminine silhouettes that blur the boundaries between menswear and womenswear “Frida used to wear three-piece suits like these since she was 19, flouting her femininity to claim an independence that was above all intellectual,” stated Dior.
Churi also wanted to underline the strong links between Khalo and Mexican culture. In order to do so, motifs on the clothes such as: butterflies, parrots and Birds of Paradise, reflected the Mexican flora and fauna that preoccupied the artist. “I’ve always felt close to her and to what she did,” Chiuri said. “She was an artist who was the first to use her work to express her thinking about her body and her wardrobe; her clothes were part of her project. But also, she was very connected to the natural world, to mother earth, to the idea of metamorphosis.” The butterfly motif, appearing either as a decorative jewelry, a full pattern accessoire or embroidered on a garment, was a powerful symbol in all the looks. Embroidered dresses, delicately materials, velvet black-and-white pieces worn with stunning black leather boots at the begging of the show were gradually replaced by bright colours, such as pink or the colours of the Mexican flag, combining red, green and traditional embroidery in a new modern way.
The show was not only dedicated to Khalo's work and fight for feminism, but also to mexican heritage in more general ways. For this new line, unveiled in Mexico City, Maria Grazia Chiuri has once again collaborate with local artisans. Mexican artisans, embroiderers, weavers and jewellery designers, all contributed to the collection in order for the house of Dior to perpetuate their strong tie with the craftsmanship tradition. Created with high dedication to design and craftsmanship, the house of Dior worked with the indigenous communities of Mexico: the Nahua community of the Sierra Norte of Puebla, the Mazatec, Chinantec, Zapotec and Mixtec communities of Oaxaca and Tzotzil of Chiapas. “We don’t simply need to preserve craftsmanship but also have a vision for its future, because we’re running the risk that the new generation will not be interested. This is what we’ve been doing at Dior since 2016: we support artisans through education and vocational training, making people realise the value of having such skills,” she said before the show.
The Dior team has put together a show that mirrors Mexican culture, with an multi-ethnical group of models stepping onto the runway to the sound of a love song by Vivir Quintana, entitled Te Mereces un Amor and an installation by artist Elina Chauvet who assembled a team of 16 female embroiderers to work on “A Corazón Abierto” [“Open Heart”], a series of 20 white Dior toiles stitched with words and symbols in red cotton threads.
Symbolism, passion, art, the desire for freedom - were all concepts that laid the basis of this Dior Cruise 2024 collection.
