mobanmarketOff with their heels! Dior had fashionistas thinking twice about their stilettos Monday by taking
footwear down to earth in its Paris haute couture show.
Citing a famous quote that high heels “were nothing but a modern version of Chinese foot binding”,
proudly feminist designer Maria Grazia Chiuri went full tilt for the liberating power of flats.
She took a saw to the tottering stiletto to create black elasticated
spartan sandals that almost doubled as tights, giving them “a couture allure
that also frees up movement so you can be in contact with nature,” she told
AFP.
On a day when women creators dominated the Paris catwalks, the Dutch
designer Iris van Herpen also sheared off her heels, cantilevering the
stilettos that went with her stunning ethereal creations which are unlike
anything else in fashion.
The big innovations in Dior’s almost entirely black autumn winter
collection were the gothy thigh-length sandals, punky feathered tights and a
series of embroidery dresses that echoed body art at its classiest.
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Chiuri, the first woman ever to lead the iconic French house, said the idea
was to question what we wear.
Indeed, the opening look — a white classical tunic worn by her muse, the
British model Ruth Bell — carried a quotation by social historian and design
guru Bernard Rudofsky, “Are clothes modern?”
First woman to lead Dior displays female power on the catwalk
It was also from the Austrian author of “The Unfashionable Human Body” that
Chiuri took her inspiration to cut the heel down to size — wearing the
spartan sandals herself — although a few low-flying kitten heels did creep in.
This was perhaps the Italian’s sharpest collection since she became the
first woman to head the iconic French house in 2016.
Chiuri took Dior’s New Look classics and gave them a controlled punky
elegance for Generation Z, draping every model in black net veils or little
fascinator berets by British milliner Stephen Jones.
Dior’s headquarters, a 19th-century mansion not far from the Champs
Elysees, was turned into a black-and-white surrealist landscape for the show
by the British-born feminist surrealist Penny Slinger.
With “The Handmaiden’s Tale” star Elisabeth Moss sharing the front row with
singer Celine Dion and actress Priyanka Chopra, Chiuri upped the feminist vibe
with a tribute to the caryatids, the female forms which hold up so much
classical and neo-classical architecture, in a series of tunic dresses.
“They have always shouldered the weight of the world,” she said.
In the final look, she hammered home the point again, with a model wearing
a gilded maquette of the building as a tribute to the women who work in its
studios.
Van Herpen hypnotises the star-studded audience
Van Herpen’s breathtaking collection which she called “Hypnosis” was all
about lifting us into another realm of lightness.
The gravity-defying genius of her iridescent creations have often been
compared to the silvery transparent creatures of the deep.
And this time she outdid herself in what she called “the hypnotic
visualisation of nature’s tapestry”.
The show was staged around a staggering piece of moving sculpture called
“Omniverse” by the American artist Anthony Howe, that echoed the shimmering
anemones and squids that her high-tech gowns evoke.
Celine Dion took her place in the front row wearing one of Van Herpen’s
earlier creations.
Like everyone else, the Canadian watched goggle-eyed as Van Herpen
premiered a new “Hypnosis” technique developed with British neuroscientist
Professor Phillip Beesley, where satin is cut into thousands of exquisite
“0.8mm (0.03-inch) waves, with each interlinked and designed to move faster
than the eye can follow”.
The show finished with an “Infinity” dress with its own moving mechanism
designed along with Howe which mimicked his installation.(AFP)
Photos courtesy of Dior and Iris van Herpen