Feminism, Fencing and Tarot Cards in Chiuri's Debut for Dior

It was a historic moment for Christian Dior in Paris Fashion Week.  Debuting it’s Spring and Summer 2017 collection from its first female creative director to command the ateliers of the historic fashion house. Christian Dior has been honed by masculinity for 69 years and now a woman will step in and break the chains of masculine paramountcy. After Raf Simon’s exit, The French fashion house was in a state of limbo that forced them to let the seamstresses manage the direction of their collections while they search for a perfect scion to Dior’s creative supremacy. Maria Grazia Chiuri was then chosen, an Italian who earned her notoriety with her appointment as Valentino’s creative director, she shared the seat with another Italian designer; Pierpaolo Piccioli. Valentino now stripped of its emperor has maintained it’s prestige because of the two Italian duo. Without Maria in Piccioli’s side Valentino’s future is uncertain.

Maria presented the collection firstly in with a battalion of puritanical-white fencing jackets.  Ruth-Bell opened the runway with her shaved head while wearing a fencing jacket with a beating hearth embroidered in her chest, also while sporting a pedal pusher and sneakers. The fencing aesthetic lingers on as the clothes transitioned with black mediums. Maria pushed Feminism as one of the show’s themes by adorning a t-shirt enunciating a bold statement;

This historic turning point on Dior is truly a glorious moment for women in the industry. The Italian designer surely knows the effect of her new position and capitalized it to secrete a concrete statement that empowers a gender that still confronts obstacles on a trade that mainly caters to their own commons. Feminism truly won with Grazia’s vison. Dominantly the entire collection is primarily comprised of practical, simple and effortless pieces that will probably indulge and appeal to new target markets. Grazia’s influence from Valentino is still strong, full length gowns in embroidery that features tarot card imagery. The technique in execution is highly reminiscent of her past position. If Grazia desires to make a legacy out of Dior just as it is similar to Maison Margiela’s current creative director, John Galliano. Chiuri needs to remove the Valentino DNA out of her system. Her remarkable work from the Italian fashion house was truly a testament of her capacity, but the two houses cannot always be symmetrical to one another in every collection they release.  The House of Dior is a difficult brand to maintain as proven by Raf Simon’s shocking exit. Especially that the industry has become ever so fast paced. Grazia will need all of her feminine might to truly secure her position as Dior’s main player.