Dior gives a new twist to Lewis Carroll’s Alice for the modern “Brat” generation at Paris Fashion Week
Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri took inspiration from Dorothea Tanning’s surrealist art for her runway show.
For Dior’s haute couture show in Paris, the brand introduced a new muse for the year: “Punk Alice.” This version of Alice, the character from Alice in Wonderland, was reimagined for the 21st century. Picture Alice with a rebellious attitude, inspired by Charli XCX’s punk style, and dressed in outfits made by top Parisian seamstresses.
One outfit featured a white lace pinafore dress with a black silk Mohawk-style headpiece. Alice’s usual striped stockings were replaced with lace-up leather gladiator boots, and her frilly skirt became a birdcage-style crinoline. Her ribbons were styled tightly like a dog collar around her neck. In the front row, Pamela Anderson wore a dotted black veil, and Venus Williams looked stunning with her hair in tight braids. The show was set in the Musée Rodin’s garden, with surreal designs of lions wearing feathered headdresses and plants with eyes embroidered on the walls.
Escapism is a safe way for many fashion designers to respond to the tough situation they are in. Dior, where designer Maria Grazia Chiuri has shown her views through feminist slogan T-shirts and supported diversity with a long-term partnership with a school in Mumbai for female craftworkers, has led the way in a time when progressive ideas became common in fashion.
As Trump’s second term is changing the world, fashion is feeling the impact and is expected to follow along. When Chiuri was asked backstage before the show if politics had affected her collection, she said it hadn’t, but she mentioned that “fashion is a place for creativity. And in your imagination, you can create the world you want to live in.”
Dior is becoming very popular and important in the changing fashion trends. It is now seen as the top choice for people in Trump’s circle. Melania Trump wore Dior’s famous hourglass-shaped skirt suits on election night, and Ivanka Trump wore them at the inauguration. At the event, Dior’s CEO, Delphine Arnault, and her billionaire father, Bernard Arnault, were also there.
Here, Chiuri replaced the famous New Look with a lesser-known part of Dior’s history, when a young Yves Saint Laurent was in charge. He introduced a new shape, called the trapeze silhouette, which featured babydoll dresses with a simple A-line shape that didn’t focus on the waist. Chiuri combined this 1950s Dior style with elements inspired by the gothic Alice seen in Dorothea Tanning’s surrealist art. The models’ hair defied gravity, and their skirts looked like jellyfish tentacles on the runway. Chiuri explained backstage that she liked “the idea of nonsense.”
Dior has grown a lot since Chiuri became its designer in 2016. HSBC recently said that the brand’s income grew more than three times, from €2.7bn (£2.3bn) in 2018 to €9bn in 2023. Dior has done well in the US luxury market, especially because the dollar has been strong. However, with a new designer making waves at its big competitor, Chanel, there have been rumors that Dior might change designers too. In this new collection, which is lively, stylish, and a bit confusing, Chiuri didn’t give any clear answers.
Published: 28th January 2025
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