Blissfully ignoring the political turmoil in France, where Sunday will see the first round of a snap parliamentary election called by President Emmanuel Macron, following the rise of the far-right National Rally at the recent European elections (polls predict that Marine Le Pen's far-right anti-immigration National Rally will get the largest number of seats in the French parliament), Haute Couture week kicked off on Monday in Paris.
In the world of high fashion, everything is fantasy after all, everything is grand and at times surreal, and nothing is politicized to secure the support and money of the wealthiest clients, regardless of their political orientation.
Yet there is another imminent event that is currently capturing the fashion industry's interest - the Olympic Games - set to begin in Paris at the end of July.
Sports and fashion are certainly great themes, and Vogue celebrated this connection with a unique event in its Vogue World series on Sunday evening.
Held in the open air at Place Vendôme, the event explored fashion and sports from each decade since 1924, the last time the Olympics were held in Paris.
It opened with dynamic 1920s looks, nodding to the first sportswear designs by creative minds such as Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Gabrielle Chanel. This grand fashion pageant featured designs by the most famous fashion houses, along with performers, fashion figures, and Olympic athletes. There was great diversity at the event, but Paralympic athletes appeared only towards the end of the show.
Sports were also celebrated at Dior's Haute Couture runway, where Maria Grazia Chiuri revisited the Greek origins of the Olympic Games. This nod to the past was reminiscent of Chiuri's first Dior collection in 2016, which had a fencing theme, and Dior's Cruise 2022 show that took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, and that featured peplos-inspired dresses matched with sneakers.
There’s nothing wrong with drawing from antiquities and ancient Greece, themes that can lead to wonderful inspirations (or to creating an improptu draped tunic or top from your bedsheet...).
In this collection, classic garments such as the himation, chiton, and peplos were reinvented into draped white or black silk jersey or metal jersey gowns, asymmetrically anchored to anachronistic tank tops. The result was more Olympian goddess or vestal than athleisure and the starting point for some of the designs was a 1948 chiffon peplos by Dior (but there was also some Madame Grès thrown in). Fluidity also characterized the pantsuits, featuring peplos around the trouser waistband.
The idea was to allow the body to move and perform, molding the dress on the body rather than sculpting the body with the dress, even when the shapes and silhouettes were inspired by rigid architectural features (think Doric columns). For maximum movement, excess fabric was secured with strategically placed leather straps.
There were numerous references to the 1920s, especially in the bugle bead fringed dresses and in a flapper evening dress, as well as in some of the bodysuits, like the striped one with a polished silhouette reminiscent of the swimmers photographed by George Hoyningen-Huene. Another inspiration here was the mosaic depicting the "bikini girls" in the ancient Roman villa near Piazza Armerina in Sicily.
The 1920s were intended by Chiuri as a symbolic decade since female athletes began participating in the games, partly due to the arrival of new fabrics and textiles that facilitated body movements.
Runner, rower, and swimmer Alice Milliat was also featured on Chiuri's moodboard as she fought to include women in competitive sports (and managed to get women's track and field competitions in the 1928 Olympics).
The gold, silver, and bronze metallic designs in the collection aligned with the main theme as they referenced athletes' medals, with the collection including draped tunics like an asymmetrical gold lamé dress pleated by hand and suspended from a leather strap, and a bodysuit covered in golden feathers.
This piece suggested strength, performance, and armor, and called to mind the Winged Victory rather than Hollywood glamor or the golden swimsuits donned by aquatic icon Esther Williams in "Million Dollar Mermaid" (the golden feathers were instead reminiscent of Alexander McQueen's feathery coat from his last A/W2010 collection View this photo - was this accidental or done on purpose considering that recently Chiuri's style for Dior's ready-to-wear collections has been verging towards Sarah Burton for McQueen?). Further dynamism was ensured by flat lace-up gladiator sandals.
Art was referenced in the sports-themed mosaics inspired by U.S. artist Faith Ringgold, who did not see the results of this collaboration as she passed away in April. There was also a commercial aspect: Dior is part of the LVMH Moët Hennessy group, a partner of the Olympic Games. Both Dior and Vuitton will provide designs for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Besides, Dior has named 18 athletes as brand ambassadors, including Paralympic fencer Beatrice "Bebe" Vio Grandis, who already appeared in the past in Dior campaigns and events.
And this was exactly where the show missed a significant opportunity: including Paralympic athletes like Bebe Vio in the runway show would not only have highlighted Olympic, but also Paralympic glory, adding a human dimension to the perfection of couture. It would have reminded us all that the pursuit of excellence, symbolized by the Olympic gold, is a universal aspiration and that greatness is not exclusive to able-bodied individuals, but can be achieved regardless of the obstacles we face.
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