Welcome to the enchanted realm of Dior Cruise 2024, where Dior has invited you to embark on a mesmerizing voyage inspired by the butterfly’s alluring symbolism. It honors the butterfly’s deep imagery by fusing antique artifacts, historical allusions, and modern clothing. Dior respects the butterfly’s immense significance across history and civilizations in this stunning show held in the heart of Mexico City. The collection explores the butterflies decorating Renaissance art to Frida Kahlo’s profound relationship with the winged insect. This performance was an extraordinary blend of fashion, art, and history, set in Mexico City, a city famed for its colorful culture and artistic heritage.
Maria Grazia Chirui, Dior’s Creative Director, had hoped to stage a show in Mexico for nearly seven years, and her wish was granted yesterday night. As biblical rain fell on Mexico City, Dior presented their Cruise 2024 show, celebrating the country’s craftsmanship, color, and idol Frida Kahlo. Kahlo is one of those main characters who feel so current that Greta Gerwig could have written about her yesterday. But no one would dare give a fictional character polio when she was six years old, leaving her with one leg shorter than the other, then have her catastrophically hurt in a 1924 bus accident that would ultimately lead to her foot being amputated, and rendered her infertile before having her meet with many of the major political and artistic figures of the day, all while pursuing a side hustle as a major style icon. In some ways, Chirui had spent years putting together a tribute to the Mexican artist. When she was younger and went to an exhibition in Rome to view Frida Kahlo’s artwork, she was amazed by the artist’s life. “Everyone looks more at the iconography of her artwork in a superficial way, but honestly, her life is incredible because she had a relationship with her body and clothes,” Chirui says. “She was so aware of that.”
Embroidered cotton blouses with square necklines, voluminous skirts, floral headpieces, and frequent transitions into men’s suits and denim dungarees (influenced by Rivera’s wardrobe) were all hallmarks of Kahlo’s style. She wore these outfits with flat sandals or tooled leather cowboy boots. Clothes were a source of power, playfulness, and metamorphosis for a lady who wore built-up shoes to balance out her legs and endured chronic pain from that tragic misfortune.
The moment the first model entered the Colegio de San Ildefonso’s outdoor courtyard where Kahlo and Rivera first met the skies blew up. Most of this season’s outdoor cruise shows have occurred in unseasonably terrible weather. It probably didn’t matter, though. The images are fantastic. The attire is gorgeous. Gender barriers are reflected on the runway with outfits with bow ties, loose skirts, jackets, and even simple black looks Oversized silk shirts without a collar were sent down paired with butterfly pendants or earrings. The shirts were tucked into low-cut pleated midis or maxis in raspberry, scarlet, or ivory. The collarless shirt is a new fashion trend in other places, but Chiuri has made them wealthy and ideal for effortless, eye-catching evening elegance.
Other outfits were airy and breezy, all-white, with flared crochet skirts and loose tops, and delicate dresses in lace with embroidered butterflies. Another notable item is the bar jacket, updated with a mariachi flair; cool cowboy boots were worn with everything to complete the look.
The reason behind these Cruise shows is to showcase regional craftspeople. In Dior’s case, it meant collaborating with three specialists in Mexican craftsmanship to enlist their assistance in creating important items for the collection. As a result, Oaxacan sewists embellished Dior’s iconic bar coats with geometric and natural symbolism, and other artisans from around Mexico wove traditional garments like tunics and shirts. Even a take on the sombrero was featured, created by Alema Atelier, one of several designers Chirui aims to promote long after the Cruise roadshow departs from Mexico. One of the front-row guests who will remember the noughties’ fascination with butterfly belts is singer Alicia Keys. Riley Keough, Daisy Jones, and Hollywood icon Naomi Watts also attended the show. They would all have found something in this exhibition that suited them despite having extremely different fashion tastes, from matchy-matchy jeans to stealth-wealth capes and jackets.