New year, new look! Dior unveiled its first campaign under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. The new campaign and collection feature a decidedly younger, more laid-back look for the French house than ever before. That means denim jackets and sneakers paired with Chiuri’s signature ethereal tulle gowns and flashier logo branding in following with the ever-pervasive streetwear influences dominating today’s runways. “I strive to be attentive and open to the world and to create fashion that resembles the women of today,” said Chiuri. “Fashion that corresponds to their changing needs, freed from the stereotypical categories of ‘masculine/feminine,’ ‘young/not so young,’ ‘reason/emotion,’ which nonetheless also happen to be complementary aspects.”
The campaign features twin models Ruth and May Bell, photographed by Brigitte Lacombe. The campaign is meant to be part of a larger project Chiuri is spearheading called The Women Behind the Lens, a photographic portfolio shot exclusively by female photographers expressing their vision of the brand. Lacombe is known for her intimate and personal portraits of A-listers like Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol (she photographed the prolific artist in 1977 in Paris), Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Moss, and more. Her work has been featured everywhere from Vanity Fair and Vogue to The New Yorker and Interview. “I am very honored and grateful to have been chosen by Maria Grazia Chiuri to photograph her first collection for Dior,” said Lacombe. “It has been a great experience working together with her on the SS 2017 campaign. Maria Grazia Chiuri is strong and direct, open and generous. She has a very clear idea about how women should be portrayed and looked at, which is a point of view that I share and understand. For the campaign she had decided on the models Ruth and May, twin sisters, with a particular feminine quality: delicate and solid, and of course with a strong bond as sisters. It made it very easy for me to relate to and to portray them. The clothes are extremely beautiful, exquisite and original. I’m very happy to collaborate with Dior for the first time.”
Chiuri also let her subjects speak out about the campaign. The Bell sisters said of Dior, “The collection is incredible, there’s such a multitude of details on the dresses and other pieces, and it’s quite simply magnificent. I loved being in the show. It was great working with the designers, the hair teams and with Peter Philips for the makeup – everything went off marvelously!” Indeed.
Since her debut for Dior, Chiuri has made it clear that feminism will be a big platform for the designer. Chiuri sent models down the Dior runway in t-shirts that read “We should all be feminists” to spell it out for those that couldn’t read between the lines of her collection for Dior. Chiuri also happens to be Dior’s first-ever female creative director, making her messaging even more poignant. Brava!
