If you’re on it with the themes, surely Christian Dior has some winning legendary themes that made people jaw drop. Major fashion brands often have their runway shows in an extravagant manner where they share what they have designed with the public, media, and fashion coteries. After 70 years, Dior revisited Athens and conducted its show along with a series of photoshoots in various archaeological sites.
CRUISE 2022
Dior introduced its inter-season collection—Cruise 2022 last June 2021 in Athens, Greece. The collection’s artistic characteristics and aims were shaped and orchestrated by Italian fashion designer and Dior’s current creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Many people in the fashion and mainstream industry might be wondering, why did Dior pick Athens to stage the show and decided to go on a Greek aesthetic?
We engage in different artistic creation whether the subject is fashion, architecture, literature, and even art. We are often drawn to a few specific periods and locations in history, and one of them is undoubtedly Ancient Greece.
The last time Dior did a stunning photoshoot at Greece was with the photojournalist Jean-Pierre Pedrazzini in 1951.
The Influence
Ancient Greek influence is apparent, but along with that, we also see various important design choices to maintain modern comfort and aesthetics. Chiuri beautifully managed to render her creations up to date without overly diminishing the influence of ancient perspectives.
In some cases, the structure of the piece has a vague connection to antiquity, but even in those instances, Chiuri implemented ancient Greek motifs or the portrayal of a figure—such as the Goddess Athena— on the piece.
The Greek Touch
Chiuri also greatly relied on the craftsmanship of notable Greek artisans. This was both a practical and meaningful decision because their mark would bear the region’s cultural and artistic heritage. The family-owned atelier, Tsalavoutas, located in Piraeus, Athens, was also onboard. Established in 1936, this atelier is famous for manufacturing one specific thing; authentic Hellenic fisherman’s caps. Starting from the 19th century and onwards, this historic accessory was able to embrace ancestral and modern techniques within a single garment.
Besides these crafters, Chiuri collaborated with Greek artist Christiana Soulou and Italian artist Pietro Ruffo. Soulou drew well-known female figures from ancient Greek literature and myths such as Arachne, Ariadne, and Penelope, whose tales converge with the acts of transformation and adaptation.
Ioanna Sakellaraki, the photographer, explained that she experiment with scale, form and monumentality through a play of mirrors, aiming at composing time-sequenced moments of architectural and sculptural realities, as manifested through the dialogue of the female silhouette with the Greek landscape.
“The collection itself inspired me to look into how garments go beyond traditional use leading to the continuous rediscovery of femininity and female creation in past and present forms.” She said.
CONCLUSION
By introducing the Cruise 2022 collection in Athens, Dior brought direct revenue to Greece, where a considerable amount of the revenue is expected to be spent towards the preservation and restoration of the national cultural and historical heritage.
This was the price of reviving the neoclassical spirit within Dior. Aside from that, they were able to pay homage to the iconic 1951 photoshoot on the Acropolis, which featured an haute couture collection for the French magazine, Paris Match.
