Couture Fashion Week: Review of Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2021

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest haute couture collection for Dior continues her collaboration with the filmmaker Matteo Garrone and the enchantments they explored last season. Touching on both fashion’s power to conjure fantasy and the human desire to reach for a higher power in times of crisis, Chiuri looked to the mysticism of tarot cards. It was a fascination shared by Christian Dior himself, who was famously passionate about the divinatory arts. 

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Called Le Château du Tarot, Garrone’s film follows a protagonist who wanders through a castle—her adventures a metaphor for a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, she meets Temperance, Justice, Strength, the Lover, Death and the Devil—all gorgeously, dramatically dressed, of course—and the film culminates when she finally embraces all parts of herself. 

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Chiuri’s inspiration was a tarot deck created in the 15th century and as such, the resulting collection was rich in historical references. There were Empire gowns and Renaissance sleeves, portrait necklines and medieval high collars, corseted bodices and flowing gossamer pleats. The textures were equally rich—velvets, brocades, jacquards, organzas, feathers, embellished lace and ornate embroideries. However, Chiuri also tempered the extravagance with quieter looks—most notably, the Bar jacket reinterpreted as black velvet suits worn with flat loafers or Oxfords. 

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