Dior’s first physical runway show for the brand since the global pandemic. Dior presented its Cruise 2022 collection in a marvellous show in Athens on June 17, 2021, including a display of 200 fireworks. The destination chosen was Athens for the showcase as it’s the “ cradle of western civilization and European arts”, according to the brand in a press release. Maria Grazia’s confinement took her Dior cruise show to the birthplace of sports, the Panathenaic stadium, it’s the place where Ancient Greek worked up a sweet circa 330BC. Maria Grazia Chiuri explained that she was interested in clothes that gave freedom of movement. This runway show was largely attended by the local press and clients (following to the covid-19 regulations), who were treated to a Greo-electro performance by the Greek-American singer Ioanna Gika.
This was Chiuri’s first focused study on sportswear, she bridged the technical properties of a sports genre with couture-informed craftsmanship. Clean, cream activewear walked the stadium, occasionally interrupted by sweats elevated by some abstract and magnificent prints. Dior’s cruise collection featured some refreshed version of the peplos which a robe was worn by women in ancient Greece, along with the sportswear staple and futuristic sneakers. She worked the peplos that opened the show like a parachute dress, sportifying with drawstrings and drawing to contrast with the classic Hellenic dress which closed the show. Chuiri also paid homage to Marlene Dietrich’s white suit, a reference was prompted by the old image of the icon dressed up as Leda.
Chuiri exercised and reconstructed the Christian’s Dior’s old tropes, aestheticizing the Bar Jacket by removing its lining and sportifying its fabrication. This wasn’t all about oversized white trainers and sportswear, but the desires that make us adapt sporty cuts and fabrics into our everyday wardrobes.
