February 28, 2018 |
Let’s go, girls. Inside Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior vortex we went, an abundance of feminist slogans, protest posters and magazine covers from 1968 covered the walls, floors and ceilings. Trippy feminism. “Women’s rights are human rights,” the walls read and the women walked out in front of the big and bold: “I am a woman.” And so they marched in their Dior uniforms of baker boy caps, checked suits branded with ‘Christian Dior’ and oversized tinted sunglasses. Women on a pursuit. Patchwork was revived on panelled printed chiffon dresses, clogs to match, this was the collection for art school teachers. Knitted jumpers with peace signs were all part of this reinvention of the sartorial revolution of 1968. Sheer chiffon skirts with tiny off kilter ruffles hinted at newness and tapestry Persian rug vibes made up coats. Black leather suits va voomed it on and those big golden D belts filled our logo mania love.
The soft Dior femininity in wool thread embroidered flowers on that black coat filled our hearts with flutter. It was an exploration of the moment in 1968, Diana Vreeland’s ‘Youthquakers’, when young women broke out of their mother’s dress codes and the high street was born. Kate Bush’s ‘Cloudbusting’ drove it forward, “Ooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen… to be a threat to the men in power.” Evil laughing. Yes, this was a collection that delved deep into the Dior archive in 1968 when Marc Bohan was the designer, and continued the promise of protest. We do love to be empowered. But the question is, can empowerment by association really continue to empower us? Will more rub off on us if we wear Dior? Probably. Clothes that mean action. Either way, we want to wear them.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd Evans
