Like everyone else in Paris right now, the Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri is thinking about the Olympics. Her latest Dior haute couture show was staged in the garden of the Musée Rodin, a stone’s throw from the grand open space of Esplanade des Invalides, where banks of seating are already being erected in preparation for the archery competitions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But in haute couture, where no price tag is fewer than five figures, athleisure does not make the cut.
So this season’s Dior was Olympian in the grandest sense: classically draped goddess gowns, with asymmetric necklines cut to expose a shoulder and skirts cascading in silken layers. This was evening wear, not exercise wear – a sports bra would never work under these strapless dresses – but it was cut, crucially, for comfort. “I am obsessed with comfort,” said Chiuri before the show.
“I never want to construct a body with clothes; I only want to deconstruct the clothes on your body. Christian Dior built the shape of a woman with clothes, but my approach is completely different. I want to make a dress that makes your body feel good, not one that changes the shape of your body.
I hate anything with boning and I like clothes that are light and that you can get in and out of easily.” Just as fashion is about culture alongside clothes, sport is about attitude and values as well as about athleticism. On Chiuri’s moodboard this season was a black and white photograph of the athlete.
