Maria Grazia Chiuri celebrates women with her PFW show
The venue
The show venue - set in the Jardin des Tuileries in the heart of Paris - was designed in collaboration with the Claire Fontaine collective to create a space dedicated to Italian women artists who commit to the feminist cause. Illuminated conic phrases hung from the ceiling, flashing at intervals.
'Women raise the upraising' symbolising the revolutionary act of motherhood, 'patriarchy = repression' illustrated the emotional consequences of make domination and 'when women strike, the world stops' highlighted the often unrecognised but essential role of women in society.
The first model opened the show to the word 'consent' flashing above her, a - perhaps unintentional but impactful nonetheless - nod to this week's Weinstein verdict.
The clothes
Maria Grazia Chiuri looked to her teenage diary for her autumn/winter 2020 collection, and more specifically the emotions linked to it. She revisited old photos including some of her mother and actresses who inspired clients of her mother's couture atelier, and re-imagined them with her vision of today.
The show opened with the Dior Bar jacket, which harks back to the New Look of 1947, launched during the house's first ever Paris fashion show.
There were 70s shearling jackets and boiler suits, and plenty of heritage checks inspired by Mr Christian Dior himself ('I love checks. They can be fancy and simple; elegant and easy; young and always right,' he said).
A polka dot scarf found in the Dior archives served as the starting point for a series of dresses in various styles and lengths.
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Other key looks included grandad knits and prim pea coats paired with pleated skirts. Fringes featured heavily, adding movement to long skirts.
The accessories
There again, Maria Grazia looked to the past. Silk bandana scarves adorned models' heads, showcasing hippie style wavy hair. Organza ties and cute backpacks reminded us of school uniforms of days gone by.
The FROW
Dior started off PFW with a bang thanks to a very stellar line-up. Maya Hawkes, Sigourney Weaver, Andie MacDowell, Rachel Brosnahan, Demi Moore, Cara Delevingne, and the list goes on.
The standout piece
A good suit is the ultimate timeless look worth investing in, and for this reason I have to say the black two-piece that opened the show. If the jacket still stands the test of time over 70 years on, then it's a no brainer.
Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.
Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).
Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.
However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.
Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.
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