On her quest to offer desirable clubbed with wearable, Maria Grazia Chiuri stumbled upon WFH concept which gained momentum during pandemic. During this time her mission intensified and hence Dior’s latest SS21 collection “Our New Style of Life” was born. . “We had to approach this collection with an idea more of design. We are living in a different way and staying more at home within our intimacy. Our clothes have to reflect this new style of life.”

Her new collection was presented to the audience in a tent in the Jardin des Tuileries. Her collection was anything but “zoom dressing”. “This is very far from the Dior look, because Dior was a couture house. The idea of construction was really stiff,” Chiuri acknowledged. “The most important issue for me was to realize the new Dior silhouette: the jacket with the shirt and the pants. I think that is what really represents the feeling of the moment. I cross my finger”.

The holy trinity was expressed so beautifully early in the show; no one would have guessed that the garments are derived from Dior suit. Jackets were ballooned into dressing gowns and shirts elongated into tunics. The whole thing was covered by Mediterranean paisleys mixed with Roman sandals and peplos dresses. “For a long time, there was a moment in fashion when clothes had to have a dialogue with other people, to express your opinion to other people. At this moment in time, I think it’s more about a personal relationship with ourselves,” Chiuri reflected. “You want to take care of yourself. I feel that, so I think other people need that feeling too.”

Her philosophy of less abstract jacket-trouser-shirt constellations was applied towards the end of the show with a series of boxy trouser and skirt suits that focused on enhancing the hourglass silhouette by softly emphasizing the waist. The collection was not about compressing the body but wrap around the natural curve, showcasing how comfort wear can work in a more formal way.       And to make comfort wear more glamorous, Chiuri threw in some more seductive pieces, which were barely touching the skin.  

While researching for the new collection, Chiuri’s finding took her back to her native Italy, which has now embraced more realistic approach to fashion. She learned about comfortable garment constructions through her conversation with designer Nanni Strada. She even asked Alina Marazzi to make a film about artist Lucia Marcucci, whose women-centric collages played with media’s image of women versus the liberation voices. It was screened before the show. The set was surrounded by Marcucci’s retro collages interpreted in the stained glass of cathedral windows.