The combinations of Dior, Jennifer Lawrence and Graphic T-shirts has to be a millennial match made in heaven. In her second collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri is putting relaxed sophistication at the forefront of her message.
Who is Maria Grazia Chiuri?
Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first female head of Christian Dior has not shied away from discussing her ground-breaking position as the first woman in charge at Dior, rather she has embraced it. She is reinventing the classic French fashion house for today’s woman—a woman who is both feminine and feminist. Chiuri’s signature look for her Dior debut show last fall was a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, We Should All Be Feminists, which was coined by Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This t-shirt has become an emblem of the house’s new face and carried through to the new campaign.
Maria Grazia, as she’s known, spent 17 years as the co-creative director at Valentino (and spent 10 years at Fendi prior) before becoming the sole head of Dior. She brings a playfulness and independent streak to Dior. She fully embraces feminism—it’s not just a slogan on a shirt for her, it’s her way of being.
In interviews she talks about the importance of being a strong and self-reliant woman in today’s world. She designs for both young artists living in the punk scene and working women climbing the career ladder—Maria Grazia’s goal is to help all women, regardless of age or experience, express themselves through fashion - to look and feel their best. She has a hand in nearly every aspect of the design, from lookbook layouts to Dior boutique arrangements—she is the woman in charge of it all, and it’s clear that she would have it no other way.
What is different about this campaign?
For this show Maria Grazia has enlisted the help of French photographer Brigitte Lacombe – who has an innate ability for sending shockwaves of raw humanity through her work.
The effect is that Jennifer Lawrence becomes the emblem of the modern woman. The monochrome shoot highlights the message of the We Should All Be Feminists t-shirt that we have been seeing everywhere for months now. The decadent glamour has been stripped back to reveal a woman dressed rather than adorned, in Dior.
Lawrence sits loosely against walls and on floors in ripped boyfriend jeans and pointed flats. The images are filled with accessibility. This is a far cry from haute couture catwalk shows with the front rows packed with Instafamous people. Or indeed the older trend some fashion houses preferred of very young and thin women in uncomfortably sexual positions.
Lawrence is her own person and that is why she has long since been adored by the world. She falls, just like we do. She is a wonderful choice for a company that is managing so well to be part of a changing conversation around the role of the modern women.
This is Chiuri’s second bold move for the company and we’re excited to see what she will bring to the fashion world in 2017…
