Dior unveiled its Cruise 2023 collection with a visual spectacle inspired by flamenco in Seville, Spain, on Thursday night.
Influenced by famous Spanish flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya, the entire show unfolded as a homage to her, the dance form and the culture of the city in which it was staged.
Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of Dior, wrote on Instagram Amaya could "combine strength and fragility" through the gesture of dance.
"She is capable of depicting the soul of Spain and interpreting a conscious feminine idea that is feminism,” she wrote.
Staged in the Plaza de Espana, a large public space fronted by a magnificent curved building in the heart of the Andulcian city, Grazia Chiuri delivered a 110-look collection themed around the codes of southern Spain and its rich, varied and, at times, dark history.
Flanked by two flamenco dancers and a cajon box drum, the first models arrived in simple tops and trousers in black and white, paired with ponchos, waistcoats and jackets featuring delicate embroidery.
Shirts gave way to lacework, plain skirts became full and covered in intricate patterning as masculine tailoring softened into a more feminine silhouette.
Looks featured nods to equestrianism, with models clutching riding crops and wearing flat-brimmed gaucho hats, and what started as an all-black affair slowly gave way to embroidery, with palettes becoming richer and more golden, until the flamboyant traje de luces-inspired suits made an appearance on the runway.
The monochrome gave way to red, first as military-style jackets and slashed sleeve capes, before shifting to patterned skirting, ruched off-the-shoulder dresses and a beautiful laser-cut leather dress in deep oxblood. In another nod to horse riding, dark denim arrived as cowboy-esque jackets, chaps covered with the Dior monogram, and riding coats with wide Driza-Bone collars.
As colours shifted through black and white, cream to gold and finally into rich taffeta gowns of peony, purple and red, Grazia Chiuri acknowledged one of the darkest periods of Seville history.
One beautiful, flame-licked gown arrived with the word "fuego," or fire, on its waistband, a stark reminder of the terrible auto-da-fes that once burned within the city walls.
This rich and complicated history is the ideal incubator for Grazia Chiuri, who has sifted through centuries to pull off something extraordinary. In referencing Amaya, Grazia Chiuri mixed high fashion with flamenco, a dance once seen as deviant within Spain for it links to the Gypsy community.
Both an academic and designer, Grazia Chiuri once again drew parallels between women and artforms who have been sidelined and repressed, and with every new collection, she continues to redraw the lines of history.
