What’s most significant about this Dior’s Autumn/Winter 17 Haute Couture Collection, is that it’s a celebration of Dior’s 70th Anniversary. With this in mind, Maria built upon two key themes which served as inspiration for the commemorative collection: Albert Decaris’s 1953 map of five continents that depicts the Maison’s expansion globally; and then there’s Monsieur Dior’s comment found in is autobiography, Dior by Dior, “A complete collection should address all types of women in all countries”. She reconciles these two key themes, with the discovery of faraway lands, while simultaneously exploring the Maison’s heritage by envisioning the figure of a female explorer, who keenly borrows from the boys by using fabrics traditionally associated with menswear, and transforming them into almost silk- and satin-like surfaces, and aviator-esque jackets that flare out into pleated culotte skirts. At the same time this character of the female explore also accessories with  ethnic pieces, that in the collection, take the form of capes, and outerwear, which may have been picked up during her travels.

The show set, as can be seen above, also reflected this “faraway lands”vibe because did feel as if we were being transported back in time, to revisit a safari, but a prehistoric safari site,  given the fact that there were also life-sized wooden 3-dimensional fossil-like creatures like the giraffe, eagle, lion, alligator, tiger,  gazelle, and elephant. And, if we look up, suspended in mid-air was the “ceiling” which featured Monsieur Dior’s Lucky Star, was an artwork depicting a war between what seems to be Vikings dressed in full armour, with animals like the Centaur, and Pegasus, which also bore the names of constellations — another of the superstitious founder’s talismans.

For the collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s seemed to be a follow up of  Dior Autumn/Winter 17 collection which featured a collection based around an entirely blue palette, these abovementioned ideas were conceptualised with a predominantly grey palette, which then transitioned into an ecru, with flashes of red and ombré in between. So how’s this different to the ready-to-wear collections? The Couture treatment was obvious in the and elaborate floral embroidery-work, and ruffled tulle evening gowns that were, to me, was Maria’s reinterpretation of, and tribute to, Monsieur Dior’s  Couture designs from the archives, as well as the now iconic “Miss Dior” dress — and very rightly so, since it is, after all, a commemorative collection for the Maison’s 70th Anniversary.

Now, let me share some of my favourites from the Autumn/Winter 17 Haute Couture collection with you:

What were your thoughts on the collection? I think Maria really kept the spirit of Monsieur Dior alive with this collection. It was definitely a homage to the founder,  yet at the same time, updating its aesthetic with her very own take on it.