Spring/Summer ’18 saw one of fashion’s most thought-provoking haute couture collections from Dior. Artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri was largely inspired by Leonor Fini, one of the avant-garde artists Monsieur Dior chose to exhibit in the gallery he was involved with before he became a couturier.
Of note was how Fini used clothes and extravagant headdresses to create an identity that was regal and powerful. “Surrealism speaks about dreams and the unconscious, and often about women’s bodies,” she explained. “It’s very close to fashion.”
Chiuri’s surrealist symbolism included a black-and-white checkerboard runway, bird cages, and faux plaster casts. The clothes were predominantly monochrome in line with the trending #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, strategically dashed with silver and gold.
