Like so many of us, quarantine changed Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, who introduced her Pre-Fall 2021 collection earlier today. An ode to the pop culture of the 70s, Chiuri was inspired by her youth and looked to Andy Warhol and designer Elio Fiorucci for inspiration when designing this collection. And, after a year of so much sadness and loss, it is refreshing to see Chiuri step outside of the box and explore a usage of color unlike any other. Chiuri, who typically favors neutrals and more muted tones, spoke to Vogue about her change of heart stating: “Working with color is not so easy for me. I have very specific tastes in color. But honestly, I needed to work with color. It was a necessity for me.”
Her exploration and imagination paid off, and this collection is both vibrant and fun, it’s full of prints and evokes a certain energy typically not seen at Dior. Leopard print appears throughout the collection, and the House’s use of the fun animal print pre-dates even Chiuri. Mizza Bricard, a muse of Christian Dior himself, loved leopard print and it became an emblematic House code. In addition to various shades of leopard print RTW, the Dior Book Tote is reimagined in leopard, appearing alongside other iterations such as a dinosaur print, a red plaid and a new north-south book tote with a cheeky ‘I heart Paris’ motif. The Bobby and Saddle bag were also seen in a smaller capacity than the Book Tote, as well as the Diorcamp Messenger. View more below.
[images via Dior]
