Dior has presented a collection of miniature dresses for Couture Fashion Week.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, catwalk shows have been put on hold, forcing designers to think of alternative ways to showcase their collections to their usual audience of celebrities, fashion editors and stylists.
On Monday, Dior unveiled its Autumn/Winter 2020 haute couture offering, and instead of presenting the creations on a traditional runway, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri moved to an all-digital format with the release of a short film by Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone.
The short film, titled “Le Mythe Dior”, is set in a fantasy world that sees models representing characters from classic mythology, such as mermaids and wood nymphs, traipse around woodlands dressed in couture. The ensembles are hand-delivered to the women in miniature form by two bell boys and kept locked inside a case that resembles a high-fashion doll house.
The travelling pint-sized collection, which features small-scale versions of Grecian gowns and velvet dresses, was inspired by the Théâtre de la Mode, a fashion exhibition that helped promote Parisian couture to customers during the Second World War.
Each look has been made entirely by hand by the Parisian house's atelier, only 40 percent smaller than its original size and, as seen in the video campaign, the dresses will be housed in a nomadic trunk for couture clients to browse at their own leisure.
“We made this project in a very particular moment of our lives,” said Chiuri, who began working on the show remotely under lockdown in Rome, coordinating with seamstresses and production crew who were also at home.
“It’s a different experience. But I think it’s a beautiful experience.”
The designer added that the gowns featured in the collection were inspired by female surrealist artists such as photographer Lee Miller and featured intricate embroideries as well as head-to-toe feathers in one lilac look.
“The women surrealists are less well known than the men and often they are regarded as muses rather than the talented artists they were,” Chiuri explained.
“They were very modern, very unconventional for the time they were living in, and the way they express themselves through clothing really interests me.”
Dior's approach to couture this season comes as the fashion industry has been forced to reinvent the traditional fashion show amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, Chanel presented its first-ever digital cruise show, while designers like Gucci have decided to opt out of the Autumn/Winter 2021 season altogether.
