The Voice of Fashion
From the run-up to the runway at Dior Fall 2023, of hype and history and how fashion collects meaning through material.
“It is what goes on behind the scenes that interests me more,” said Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri at a press conference in Mumbai a day before the luxury brand showed its Fall 2023 collection at the Gateway of India on March 30. Chiuri was in conversation with Karishma Swali, creative head of Chanakya School of Craft, her collaborator. The two joined hands many years back, not just for the clothes Dior makes but for special projects which highlight artisanship and the global decolonisation of crafts, thus convincing suits and minds in power corridors of luxury who hire artisans to go beyond what they have already accomplished.
As she spoke to the fashion media, Chiuri made clear the few things dear to her. Transparency about processes and people that makes fashion come alive, respect for craftsmanship as art (as opposed to skilled labour) and female empowerment as the lens to view it. Chiuri wears black garments, mostly deconstructed pants with easy shirts, sometimes throwing on an understated version from Dior’s many intricately embroidered jackets. But she wears her convictions with the flair of a skilled creator. It was apparent that Chiuri and Swali value symbolism (that must rise above tokenism), in this case made evident by announcing the tall and wide Toran hand-crafted and embroidered by the artisans of the Chanakya School of Craft. A symbol of welcome in Indian culture, this Toran was the backdrop of the much-hyped show at the Gateway of India.
If you are reading this article to check how the clothes looked, whether they would become all the rage or not, who wore what and the celebrities that sparkled at the event, let’s take the first turn right for a show and tell. Even the livestreaming of the show netted more viewers than many fashion-couture outings in the recent past.
A Cross-cultural Vocabulary
Inspired by India with a dominant use of Indian textiles, woven, block-printed, embroidered or embellished, the collection wore a cross-cultural look. It travelled in mind and its body, urging a loosening of geographical boundaries. Madras was present through Madras checks the fabric, as well as in lungi-drapes styled like sarongs in other fabrics, some sequinned, some plain silks, paired with long white shirts. There were velvet slippers in jewel tones too, in striking amethyst or tangerine, besides sequinned trousers, skirts and tops. There were long jackets the colour of berry, plum and pink; block-printed jackets and coord combos, and shibori on denim jacket-trouser sets that brought a kiss of youthfulness and coolth. Elegantly tailored cream-white or black ankle-length dresses, slit long on the sides with buttoned waists, were sent out with stringy Roman sandals. Evening coats, light chunky sweaters for autumnal layering, animal print dresses and easy gowns trooped in. There were many draped silhouettes mixing soft silks with strings of white pearls, gelled Victorian hairstyles with braids twisted into side knots, faces glistening and moist, footwear flat and walkable. Then there were lions, fruit trees and peacocks in the mix of embroidery patterns on some garments and totes. Plenty of beads and sequins, short, embroidered sheath dresses, formal jackets with zardozi details and you could even spot a Banarasi textile or two. Pink walked in wearing a not-so-exact “Rani” hue (what a relief!) but seductive enough for those who look for pink to add an intense dash to their wardrobes.
Where colours go, the berry-amethyst used in silk for skirt shapes and in light autumn wools for long jackets was the calling card. Where shapes go, the lungi-sarong, or a hint of Madras without its cheery checks and velvet slippers were winners according to this writer.
It is easy to envision the commercial popularity of this collection internationally, because it brings India by Dior in a mix that promises big marketing success. It is not as easy though to see why Dior’s Indian customers may be head over heels for this collection except for some pieces. Many garments and looks presented a vision of what is easily imaginable for us as fashion in this country.
History vs hype
The entire collection was not mind-blowing but as an event, with the decorative Toran and the Gateway of India backdrop, it was a moving moment. An 18-piece Indian orchestra including female tabla players placed way beyond where most people could see (unfortunately) offered the pre-show surround sound with sitar and percussionist tunes. As the models first walked out, the music reminded the audience of Carnatic music-based Bharat Natyam jathis (opening numbers), following which a soundtrack made in collaboration with sound director Michel Gaubert and British cellist Oliver Coates took over. Until the rise of remixed chants of Om Namo Shivaya surged, suggesting an unnecessary reference and a forced link to the idea of India. Not because it drew excerpted religious music but because Indian culture had been referenced in so many ways by now across the run-up to the show and the set. From the floral marigold arrangements to diyas at the venue; from Mul Mathi (of the earth), the pre-show exhibition that honoured the artisans of Chanakya who had worked in collaboration with painters Manu and Madhvi Parekh. Enough had been done. The rest would be overkill.
Where shapes go, the lungi-sarong, or a hint of Madras without its cheery checks and velvet slippers were winners according to this writer.
However, since fashion is never just about clothes and couture, about material and skill, about trends and seasons but an exhausting collection of all of this, this was a historically important show. The unique location and the intention behind it made it so. An inflection point in what can be interpreted as “internationalism,” the subject of many a current debate in global politics. Time also for us to wonder why the Indian tourism authorities and state governments do not give similar permissions for Indian events.
This is not the first time that Dior and its parent company LVMH have been inspired by India or has sourced from India for its couture or sold here to the country’s pre-Partition royalty. Yet this narrative matters more because it is a decolonising one. With acknowledgement of Indian artisanship as a “collaborator,” it avoids imposition or entitlement.
Star-Studded Night of Fashion
Unmissably, the Dior show was a starry evening. There were crowds outside the venue, cheering for celebs. Among the favourites were a Thai and Filipino blogger! To distract from the high wattage appearances of forever diva Rekha, cricketer Virat Kohli and actor wife Anushka Sharma, singer Anoushka Shankar, actor Sonam Kapoor, global actors and models like Indian-origin Bridgerton star Simone Ashley, Indian-American actor Poorna Jagannathan, models Cara Delevingne, Laetitia Casta, Mathilda Werner, Thai popstars Phakphum Romsaithong and Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, Filipino blogger Bryanboy—you had to look upwards at the colourfully lit towers of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a symbolic landmark of survival and resistance.
What does this change for India in fashion? Can Indian fashion and culture events be held at historical monuments? Will Chanakya’s embroideries get a permanent place in Dior archives? Will Chiuri’s post-modernist understanding of fashion that honours the feminist view, thicken the story of fashion especially as the master craftsman in India is still seen as a male artisan? Will Indian fashion houses publicly categorise their work as art x fashion x craft intersections visible here? May be all, maybe some.
One way or the other, the question to ask is if the Gateway has indeed been thrown open?
