Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri set aside the shimmery jacquards and coatings of sequins - standard fare at Paris fashion shows - and homed in on craftsmanship of the needle-and-thread variety, applying elaborate, folksy-flavored flower embroideries to her haute couture lineup for the fall-winter season.
"It’s really a project that has inside this idea that art and artisan are at the same level," Chiuri told Reuters.
Models swept down the runway Monday in loose braids and patchwork opera coats, trim jackets and long dresses with billowing sleeves. The garments served as blank canvasses of sorts, in soft, neutral colors - beige wool gabardines, cotton canvas and black velvet - for the stylized floral embroideries that trickled down shoulders and wound around skirts, rising up from the hemlines.
Ukrainian artist Olesia Trofymenko filled the show venue in the garden of the Rodin Museum with artwork, towering photographic images of landscapes overlaid with embroidered flowers, outlining the shapes of people who might have been there.
The French fashion house, one of the labels owned by LVMH, will leave the exhibit open to the public, in keeping with a tradition it started with a Judy Chicago display in 2020.
The artwork and the fashion carried an underlying theme - the tree of life, a universal symbol interpreted in different styles across cultures.
Chiuri described the notion as carrying a mystical quality that people can turn to "in difficult times."
The patterns had a slightly retro flair. Chiuri considered local traditions and how flower patterns are interpreted around the world.
"I think all these dresses have some aspect in common. Very often they are in embroidery, very often they are ornamented with flowers. There really is a connection with life," she said.
Sigourney Weaver and Naomi Watts were among guests in the packed front row.
