Uniting Christian Dior’s signature savoir-faire for womenswear with unique artisanal craftsmanship, the Dior Haute Couture 22/23 show is one of the French luxury fashion house’s best of late. At the heart of the collection is the tree of life, with the symbol used to represent the connection between cultures and mythologies as well as between all forms of creation.
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The metaphor is reinterpreted for Dior by Ukrainian artist Olesia Trofymenko, whose work creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri recently encountered in Rome. Working to “contemplate fashion through the filter of art,” Dior Fall Haute Couture 22/23 creates its own dialogue, with folkloric customs explored through needle and thread. The branches, trunk, and roots of the tree of life are expressed through cotton, silk, and yarn embroidery. A largely neutral colour palette is occasionally accompanied by flashes of pink, turquoise, gold, and blue, with the collection taking on an understated yet otherworldly tone.
Braided patchworks in bronze and black lace appear on pieces, while silk chiffon is used to create light-as-air skirting and dresses that swish and float with the weather. The New Look silhouette is repurposed for the folklore theme, with the Bar jacket distinguished by vertically smocked fabric while the skirt is provided structure by ribbons forming a basque.
A little more eastern European than quintessentially French, Dior Fall Haute Couture 22/23 was old world but not opulent.
Words by Arabella Johnson
