- Title: With miniature mannequins, Dior unveils post-lockdown collection
- Date: 6th July 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 4, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI SAYING: "You can see with the eye of course, but it speaks a lot about craftsmanship and about textile, so it's very important also for our audience to see very closely the dress, to touch the material. So probably, we have to think for the future, different way where it's possible to show this aspect." COUTURIER WORKING ON LIFESIZE DRESS USING GEOMETRIC GOLD AND BRONZE JACQUARD ATELIER WORKER TOUCHING UP MINIATURE TULLE DRESS WITH SKIRT EMBROIDERED WITH A MULTICOLOURED CHIFFON CHECKERBOARD PAINTED WITH A TAROT MOTIF COUTURIERS IN ATELIER ATELIER WORKER TOUCHING LIFESIZE PEPLUM DRESS WITH WINGED BACK, PLEATED, TWISTED BY HAND AND FRINGED WITH GOLD AND CITRINE LUREX JACQUARD VARIOUS OF ATELIER WORKER PUTTING ON PEPLUM DRESS IN GREY PLEATED CREPE SATIN DRESS ON MINIATURE MANNEQUIN LIFESIZE AND MINIATURE VERSIONS OF COROLLA DRESS IN GREIGE HAND-PLEATED RAW SILK GAUZE WITH FRINGED UNDERSKIRT INVITATION FOR SHOW
- Embargoed: 20th July 2020 15:35
- Keywords: Dior Haute Couture Maria Grazia Paris fashion
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE / ROME, ITALY/ UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATION
- City: PARIS, FRANCE / ROME, ITALY/ UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATION
- Country: France
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Fashion
- Reuters ID: LVA006CLO7CQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: French couture house Christian Dior upended its traditional catwalk show on Monday (July 6), presenting its intricate designs on miniature mannequins in a twist brought on by the new coronavirus pandemic.
Brands are having to unveil their collections online and through film as part of Haute Couture week in Paris, a showcase of high-end craftsmanship and one-of-a-kind outfits, after the presentations usually attended by fashionistas from around the world were cancelled in the wake of the outbreak.
Dior's gowns were inspired by female surrealist artists, such as photographer Lee Miller, and featured intricate embroideries, such as a bodice with a scarab-finish using tourmaline stones, and lavish motifs such as a tarot-inspired checkerboard chiffon skirt.
The looks were fitted onto 37 tiny dressmaker's mannequins, which will later be dispatched to top clients around the world, and were presented to the public on Monday through a whimsical film shot by "Gomorrah" director Matteo Garrone.
Each dress had a miniature and a lifesize version. In the film, valets carried a trunk of tiny mannequins through a forest, as nymphs and mermaids were mesmerised by the couture gowns.
"We made this project in a very particular moment of our lives," said designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who began working on the show remotely under lockdown in Rome, coordinating with seamstresses and production crew who were also at home.
The travelling miniatures echoed a format French couture houses last used during World War Two to try to keep collections going and reach customers.
Chiuri said the label sought to send the message that traditions such as dressmaking and textile workshops were alive in Paris.
"It's a different experience. But I think it's a beautiful experience," Chiuri said of working on the film, adding that it would still "give emotion" in the absence of a live fashion show.
(Production: Michaela Cabrera, Clotaire Achi, Yiming Woo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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