Translated by Sofía Jiménez

Dior’s creative director, María Grazia Chiuri, presented her last collection the last Wednesday at the Piazza del Duomo in Lecce, Italian city has been seduced by an amazing show full of lights, inspiriting sentences to the sound of folk and traditional Italian music.

Facing the global pandemic we are going through this year, we have had to recreate ourselves and Maria Grazia Chiuri has known how to do it with her last collection Crucero 2021. An event that was expected to be attended by people and that, because of the conditions that we now have, was followed through the Dior ́s website and social networks, in which was broadcasted on streaming from the very beginning.

A fashion show full of tributes 

Chiuri wanted to pay a tribute to the values, culture and traditions of Apulia, the fascinating region at Italian south – east. Dior ́s creative director confessed on an interview her intention to show to the world the value of the work of the local craftsmanship.

Thus, a foundation called Le Constantine, founded in 1982 by the siblings Giulia and Lucia Starace along with their cousin Lucia Viti de Marco; whose goal is precisely to show the symbols of Apulia, has had the opportunity to work together with the Parisian brand, creating this way wonderful fabrics by means of the traditional craftwork. They could also take the motto of Le Constantine ́s atelier: “Amando e Cantando”.

The brand did not doubt to include the “tombolo” technique in its products, a typical embroidery of the south of Italy that lasts from the 15th century and that unfortunately threatens to disappear. In order to do so, they counted on Marilena Sparasci‘s collaboration, one of the embroiderers that today practice and teach this local technique. By means of this embroidery, the laces come to life and are added to the dresses of the collection as if they were flowers and butterflies. 

The town became a festive full of lights by means of Fratelli Parisi’s ateliers, a brand founded in Apulia in 1876. The designers and light stylists were in charge of the illuminated structures that created the scene of the fashion show, handling virtuously the colours and their intensity to create a great variety of forms and graphics. 

The designs were simultaneously presented to the sound of Paolo Buonvino’s traditional music, along with a tradicional dance native to Apulia known as pizzica, that was carried out by the dancers of a foundation called La Notte della Taranta, and choreographed by Sharon Eyal. Models and dancers shared the stage, giving room to a fashion show that supposed an ode to celebration, conviviality and “joie de vivre”, as well as the magic popular rites preserved by the inhabitants and artisans of Apulia. 

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Dior and Italy

The connection between Dior and Italy is undeniable. On one hand, designer and the founder of the brand, Christian Dior, loved this Mediterranean country. He confessed that its colors, its amazing landscapes, the light and the endless blue sky seduced him and inspirited him to create some of his collections. On the other hand, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Roman designer and creative director of the brand since 2016, proposed Apulia as the place for the presentation of the collection because it was an unknown region and because of the family memory from Lecce: “My father worked nearby. This fashion show display the craftwork, all these references whose memory I preserve: the embroideries, the fabrics that I saw my grand-mother and my uncle to create”. 

A collection with magic

The designer was inspired by the writings of the Italian anthropologist Ernesto Di Martino, which were about a journey that he made to the south of Italy where he discovered Apulia and the magic and festive rites that the inhabitants celebrated, accompanied by music and dances such as the “pizzica taranta”, an ancient rite against the tarantism. He also discovered the magic of these rites to believe in future, which was a total inspiration for Chiuri because, according to her; when you are desperate, you need hope that there can be something magic in life.

In spite of the pandemic, the fashion show was an absolute success. A fashion show full of sheer dresses with bohemian style and unexpected proposals.

In the fashion show we could watch dresses with daring patterns, that was a beautiful floral explosion for our eyes.

Regarding the classic dress Miss Dior designed by Christian Dior in 1949, the artist Pietro Ruffo dared to take a turn of 180o and created a completely different version. This new version was undoubtedly the crowning jewel of the show, because it became an absolute success.

In the fashion show, the set suit and trouser could not be missed, although it was transformed into a more summery look by using shorts; Dior also combined this tendency with high boots. 

Dresses have been the protagonists of this show. Colourful dreamy dresses that seem to be taken from fairy tales, which any woman would dream of.

The designer has not doubted to include an unexpected accessory, the corset, that was combined with almost every set.

The Parisian brand has shown us a preview of spring – summer 2021 tendencies, will you dare with them?

All credits for Dior, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, InStyle, Fashion United.

ÁNGELA MÓNEV