For haute couture fall/winter 2017-18, and for the house’s 70th anniversary, Dior takes us on a whimsical journey. Beginning in a palette of greys, the presentation kicked off with a sophisticated showing of skirt suits, jumpsuits, gowns, coats, capes, robes, bustier dresses, and more—all tapered at the waist with a thin belt. The silhouette is elegant and elongated, highlighting proportion and the materials that create such a look, like wool serge, pleated organza, and anthracite silk gazar.
Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri strikes a fairytale chord with images of atlases, maps, globes, tarot cards, and flowers—playing with themes of travel, discovery, emotional growth, and self evolution. A map etching from 1953 by Albert Decaris, found in the Dior archives, proved to be a major point of inspiration for this collection, as well as a snippet from Christian Dior’s autobiography Dior by Dior, reading: “A complete collection should address all types of women in all countries.”
Dior FW17-18.Courtesy of Dior.
There are full looks for day, like a herringbone wool jumpsuit and an aviator outfit—complete with puffed pants with ankle straps, and a peplum coat rolled at the wrists. There are plenty of nighttime numbers too, like a sophisticated slanted pleat bustier dress, an elegant black silk chiffon dress, and a layered black-to-red tulle dress where colors gradually fade from one to the next.
As the show progressed, so did the inclusion of color. An all-red skirt suit in red wool spiced things up, followed by a multicolored velvet patchwork coat over a rainbow feather dress. A colorful chevron print demanded attention, as did another whirlwind of velvet, organza, and chiffon dresses. Also for the collection, Stephen Jones—the house’s hat designer who is celebrating his own 20th anniversary—created a masculine fedora for the explorer inside us all, a reference to adventurers such as Freya Stark.
Dior FW17-18.Courtesy of Dior.
Dior FW17-18.Courtesy of Dior.
Dior FW17-18.Courtesy of Dior.
