The house has announced that it will host a live-streamed show in July from the picturesque town of Lecce in Italy’s Puglia region
Yesterday afternoon, Dior announced that the maison will go ahead with its plans to show a Cruise 2021 collection, sticking as closely to tradition as possible in the wake of coronavirus and the ensuing lockdowns across the world. Taking place on July 22, the show will be live-streamed without an audience at the breathtaking Piazza del Duomo in Lecce, a city in Italy’s Puglia region where creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s father grew up. Of the house’s decision to go ahead with a cruise show – where other luxury brands have opted to release campaigns in lieu of a show, or have simply decided to skip the cruise collection altogether – Dior’s CEO Pietro Beccari says: “luxury is emotions, and when it comes to fashion, there is nothing that carries the emotion of a real fashion show, a live performance where art is performed without a safety net.”
Aside from the aesthetic spectacle of the show itself, Dior has decided to persevere with a cruise collection for other reasons, too. This morning, via a video conference, Chiuri touched on the house’s responsibility to support the widespread community of workers who make up Dior amid Covid-19 struggles. “We are a company that works with people across the world – so many people depend on our work,” she said. “It’s a collective project that involves many people, and I found a great sense of sisterhood and brotherhood among these people who, despite all the difficulties and this general sense of not knowing and not understanding, decided to work with me anyway.”
The house has also revealed that the collection itself will have community in mind. The Cruise 2021 outing will pay ode to Puglia, a place of spiritual importance to Chiuri and a region teetering on the edge of bankruptcy following economic struggles caused by coronavirus. The collection, the house states, will showcase the skill of many Puglia-based craftspeople, harnessing traditional techniques to form a modern wardrobe where “the poetry and the beauty of their work is transmitted through this reinvention”. Among the artisanal practices used in the collection are ‘tombolo’, a type of embroidery Chiuri describes as a form of art, and a weaving method called ‘la constantine’. Forever imbuing her collections with layers of rich meaning and detail, Chiuri’s Cruise 2021 show also promises a celebration of the sublime landscapes unique to the region; ritual music, local dance, and a dazzling form of light architecture called ‘luminarie’, crafted by artist Marinella Senatore.
Some of Senatore’s light sculptures incorporate phrases, including one which seems to capture the spirit of Chiuri’s upcoming collection: “We rise by lifting others”. “Something that was very important to me was conveying how much craftsmanship value there is in Puglia, and how important it is, especially for younger generations, to invest in this,” Chiuri explains in the video. A celebration of community amid times of hardship, the Cruise 2021 outing ultimately aims to ensure “that the Dior dream continues”.
Dior’s Cruise 2021 show will live-streamed on July 22, 2020.