The A-list adores Dior. Trouble is, yesterday’s front row at Paris Fashion Week almost backfired.
It was so amazing, dazzling and Oscar-winning that eyeballs were fixated on the stars, rather than Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s designs for spring/summer 2024.
As models sashayed down the catwalk in the Tuileries Garden wearing belted jackets, funereal maxi skirts, pleats and sheer everything, it was the celebrity Dior ambassadors who stole the show.
There was The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy, cooler than ever in black vinyl Dior with a cinched waist.
Either side of her sat Rachel Zegler, who played Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and Jenna Ortega, who starred as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off.
Theer they are: The A-list adores Dior. Trouble is, yesterday’s front row at Paris Fashion Week almost backfired
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown’s Diana, wowed in black Dior, as willowy as a tree.
Other stars included Spanish singer Rosalia, actress Jennifer Lawrence and tennis champion Emma Raducanu, who wore Dior’s monochrome lace.
Why the actress overload? Surely it’s linked to the Hollywood actors’ strike. What better way to raise your profile when filming is halted than on a glamorous front row in Paris?
I’m reminded of Versace’s heyday, when the designer would fly in Prince and Naomi Campbell, Sting and Trudie Styler.
Such a glittery front row suggests two important things: The brand has money to burn – Dior will have paid for first-class tickets for all, plus hotels – and that fashion has run out of ideas.
If your clothes aren’t grabbing attention, you need to hire old-fashioned star power for column inches.
Amid the electric ambiance of strobe lights and an usually sweltering Parisian fall, Dior´s show Tuesday set in the Tuileries gardens witnessed a dazzling circus of stars.
But the real star this season was the collection itself. Never one to shy away from a statement on feminism, the Italian couturier Maria Grazia Chiuri crafted an unusually subtle collection in predominantly black and white that fused echoes of the medieval and contemporary.
Incredible: It was so amazing, dazzling and Oscar-winning that eyeballs were fixated on the stars, rather than Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s designs
In attendance: Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron attended the show with her daughter
Loving it: Guests applauded as models made their way down the catwalk on Tuesday afternoon
Set against an art backdrop challenging time-worn perceptions on women’s roles, this show was not only a reminder that fashion is a mirror of society – but among her most accomplished so far.
The atmosphere was charged with palpable anticipation. But even more electric was Chiuri´s dance between the medieval and the 80s punk – the former, an era of chivalry and legends, the latter, an age of defiant self-expression.
The first looks to grace the runway were what might be called “gamine gothic.” The garments, draped in a play of black with cascading tassels, bore dynamic clumps of silk that crafted a silhouette both historic and undeniably fresh.
But fashion, much like history, is cyclical, and soon this dark romanticism gave way to stark white interpretations. The result? A nod to the rebellious 80s, evoking memories of punk rockers and their spirited defiance.
He looks familiar: Robert Pattinson (fourth from right) was seen in the front row
