Shortly after staging its Men’s Fall 2023 show in one of the seven wonders of the world, Egypt’s The Great Pyramid of Giza, back in December, Dior has announced that it will be presenting its next runway in India. The Pre-Fall 2023 show is scheduled to take place at the historic site of the Gateway of India in Mumbai, an arch-monument built in the early 20th century to commemorate the landing of King-Emperor George V, the first British monarch to visit India. The hotly-anticipated event will be Dior’s first time showcasing one of its collections in the Southeast Asian country.
India has long served as a source of inspiration for Christian Dior— In 2018, an exhibition on Christian Dior at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London dedicated an entire section on how the iconic French designer and his successors at the House of Dior have been inspired by the country. One of the most iconic editorials that comes to mind is British photographer Norman Parkinson’s Vogue spread in 1956, which featured models wearing Dior in front of the Nandi Bull on Chamundi Hill in Mysore or at the Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque.
Meanwhile, Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of Dior womenswear, has a longstanding relationship with India. For years, the designer has worked with the Chanakya School of Craft, a non-profit founded in 2016 to empower female artisans while preserving and promoting traditional crafts, on embroideries for her collections.
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“I personally wanted to celebrate and showcase the incredible knowledge India offers to the international world of fashion in the field of embroidery, the mastery of the artisans who continue to work on this craft, and the commitment of Chanakya’s founders to preserving India’s history and culture, portrayed by each embroidery technique,” wrote Chiuri to her 579,000 Instagram followers.
A staunch advocate for women and the first female to be appointed to lead the ateliers and design teams of the famed French house, Chiuri’s six years at Dior have seen her continuously bridge feminism with fashion. In addition to launching those “We Should All Be Feminists” t-shirts in 2017, the fashion designer has also collaborated with several female artists and craftswomen to bring her collections to life, including the Chanakya School of Craft. “I was so touched to meet the women at the school and to hear first-hand how the school has impacted their lives and helped them on their journey to personal and professional independence,” she said on Instagram.
“It is for these many reasons that I am so proud, so emotional, and so incredibly happy that I will be joining my dear friends in Mumbai and that the @dior Fall 2023 show will take place there.”
