The first woman in Dior: How designer and feminist Maria Grazia Chiuri disappointed critics and won the hearts of young people

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She is mercilessly criticized by fashion reviewers and adored by Instagram divas. Infantile dresses, slogan T-shirts, leather corsets and straw hats seem to be incredibly far from the theatrical, mature femininity that Christian Dior and his followers preached. But Maria Grazia Chiuri has her own view of fashion, which is shared by thousands of young women around the world.

Maria Grazia Chiuri has an impressive track record. Together with her creative partner Pierpaolo Piccioli, she worked on projects for Fendi and Valentino. Maria devoted twenty-five years of her life to Valentino, first creating accessories, and then, together with Piccioli, heading the fashion house. Perfect star images on red carpets are her credit. In 2016, she presented the last collection she shared with Piccioli, and then each of them set off on a free voyage - Piccioli stayed at Valentino, and Maria agreed to become the creative director of the legendary house of Dior.

This appointment was vigorously discussed in the press. The first woman in this position - will she be able to surprise the fashion world after Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simons, who contributed something revolutionary to the development of the brand?

The very first collection of Maria Grazia Chiuri in Dior caused a storm of criticism and a tsunami of enthusiasm. It seemed that the fashion world did not remain indifferent - someone pathetically exclaimed that Dior was no longer the same, someone urgently began to save up at least for a T-shirt with a feminist slogan.

And the most popular girls on Instagram flaunted in the photo in weightless dresses with stars, thanks to Maria for creating a fairy tale - Bella Hadid's post with the caption “Thank you for making me feel like a princess” got eight hundred and fifty thousand likes almost instantly.

Perhaps the main merit of Maria Grazia Chiuri is considered the transformation of Dior into a kind of insta-brand. Everything that Maria creates looks great on mobile photos - which means it reaches an audience who is not too keen on glossy magazines, but cannot live a second without a smartphone in their hands. She herself sincerely admires digital culture and the ability to instantly share experiences with people around the world.

Another socio-cultural trend followed by Maria is feminism.

Each of her collections is inspired by strong and vibrant women. She dedicated one of them to the outstanding dancers of our time - Isadora Duncan and Pina Bausch, the other, called by critics "botanical" - to Christian Dior's sister, Catherine.

Catherine Dior was a member of the French Resistance, survived a concentration camp, and later devoted her life to professional gardening. Telling about undeservedly forgotten personalities through fashion is Chiuri's real mission.

The target audience of her work is women who know what they want, love beautiful things and decorate themselves for their own sake, and not for the sake of the audience's assessment. Femininity has always remained the key idea of the brand, and the Curie collections do not contradict this, just the very understanding of femininity changed when women gained power in the fashion world.

Nowadays, it is not only decorative fragility and softness, but also strength, confidence, self-care, understanding of one's sensuality, sexuality and desires.

Curie is one of those figures of modern culture who praises girlhood not as a stage of preparation for female maturity, sexuality and motherhood, but as a phenomenon in itself. Being a young girl in our time does not mean being undelivered and humbly waiting for your fate - it means being Malala Yusufzai, Greta Thunberg, Billie Eilish and many other stars of social movements and art. Therefore, in the Curie collections, the vector is biased towards grunge and pleasant infantilism.

Charming details, light skirts with sweaters, funny badges, ironically played with the brand logo, placed everywhere (which is simply unacceptable in "adult" fashion), ribbons, flat shoes or with a tiny graceful heel worn by teenage girls in their 50s. x … All this, sweet and touching, what the Japanese would call kawaii, is combined with high laces, leather and rough textures. “Protect your inner child,” as if Curie says to her clients.

At the same time, Curie pays tribute to the history of the brand, using Dior's favorite silhouettes and techniques in his own reading - an accentuated waist, cropped jackets, turned into the shape of fencers. She also does not forget about her work for Valentino, using her favorite motives - embroidery, appliques, draperies. In that very first collection for Dior, which left behind a mixture of delight and bewilderment, Curie shows off the image of a fencer inspired by Visconti's films. The philosophy of this show - “fight for your ideas” - is read in every model presented.

Modern fashion for Curie is not a way to please others or prove something, but something about his own feelings, emotions and desires. She does not advocate a holistic style and asceticism - these days you can dress minimalist in the morning, and compete with a drag diva in the evening - why not?

Maria Grazia Chiuri speaks of herself as an open, spontaneous, intuitive woman. She is sociable - she loves to talk on the phone, to be always in touch, to share photos in instant messengers with or without reason. She loves black coffee, Game of Thrones, and bitter coffee - and even dinners with her family.

Now she lives in Paris, and her husband - in Rome, but they strive to meet as often as possible. With her daughter, a girl in her twenties, and she is the embodiment of the target audience of the brand, Maria maintains a warm and strong relationship, they regularly travel, buying ponchos and kimonos, and her son, no less beloved, is far from fashion.

Fashion, love, beauty and women who know what they want - this is how the world should be as imagined by Maria Grazia Chiuri and her fans. Not so bad.