VIBRANT
ARTS

A swing, a prehistoric bird, rocks, craters and even an emerging iceberg: for the Dior autumn-winter 2025-2026 ready-to-wear show, Maria Grazia Chiuri invited American artist and director Robert Wilson to imagine another world, a new dimension. His spellbinding universe transposed the idea of transformation that inspired the collection into dazzling chiaroscuro, magnetic projections and captivating stage effects.

A true theatrical performance, featuring models dressed in Dior, it presented a choreography in five hypnotic acts that recounted various moments in fashion. Through the silhouettes, the Creative Director for women’s collections explored clothing as a vector of self-expression through the prism of metamorphoses. A creative journey inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, an epic odyssey through time, place and gender.

Breaking free from a purely historical interpretation, looks were firmly rooted in the present, fulfilling a functional role while also corresponding to modern desires. A fascinating adventure through eras and sartorial references, the lineup featured crinolines, now shortened to favour movement; bustiers and corsets enhanced with zips were engineered to play with volume, promising both lightness and ease.

All manner of jackets, from redingotes to doublets and tailcoats, were reimagined with an ultra-contemporary twist. Audaciously clad variously in delicately crafted velvet or embroidered horsehair – which thus became a fabric in its own right – as well as technical fabrics or denim, those pieces poetically revealed the passage of time. Drawing on House archives, outfits were completed with a multitude of white shirts embellished with exuberant ruffles – one of Gianfranco Ferré’s signatures – and the iconic J’adore Dior T-shirt designed by John Galliano was reinvented with precious embellishments. Essential punctuations, the show’s accessories completed looks with a touch of sophistication and grace. Exceptional craftsmanship was revealed on collars and scarves, which became both removable and adjustable, lending each silhouette an architectural aura.

The ruff – inspired by Orlando, the eponymous protagonist of Virginia Woolf’s novel – was revisited in leather, fabric, embroidery and even jewellery. Shoes slipped out of the men’s wardrobe, embodying the line’s playful evolutions more than ever, and bags flaunted supple curves. Elegant berets created by Stephen Jones cropped up here and there, crowned with a pearl and a little veil: a fascinating mix-and-match between sportswear aesthetics and absolute refinement.