The meaning of the present, along with the importance of the future, are what inspired Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s new Spring-Summer 2024 collection for Dior. Dior elected to explore the relationship between femininity and feminism while celebrating all the rebels who have asserted their individuality in a patriarchal society.  

A pink and yellow striped runway was only one part of the otherwise massive video installation by Italian artist Elena Bellatoni, occupying every wall of the show’s venue. Named NOT HER, the art piece featured reworked sexist adverts as a rebuttal to the dominant male stereotype. Dior elected to celebrate all rebels who have asserted their individuality amongst a patriarchal society, like witches, and reflects this with a medieval style and an architectural silhouette.

Tears, lacerations, and combustions on several fabrics became a central theme throughout the collection, as well as an overwhelming use of black and white, highlighted by the contrasting bright and bubbly runway. The emblematic Mille-fleurs are transformed into a dark motif, while the iconic designs allude to different phases of the moon, the changing of seasons, fantastical animals, and medicinal herbs.

Jackets are softly tailored taking a more masculine mode, and metallic sweaters resemble chainmail. Embracing the curves of the body, knitwear plays a tremendous role, enveloping the body without restriction.

Chiuri is no stranger to the infusion of contemporary issues in fashion and further emphasizes the importance of fashion for its responsibility to women and their worth. This new collection reminds us that fashion is of the present, and how it must simultaneously exist with the future.