A few hours after the fashion show of the Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 19/20 collection, which
happened on Mon. July 1, the historic original building of Maison Dior situated at 30, Avenue
Montaigne witnessed another important achievement for Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s first woman
creative director. Chiuri was in fact awarded with the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest civilian
distinction. The award, received from Marlène Schiappa, France’s gender equality minister, is a
recognition of the commitment the designer put into the diffusion of the feminist movement through
her creations for Dior since 2016.
Let’s remember, in particular, the famous T-shirt with the slogan “We Should All Be Feminists”,
inspired by the title of the book written by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Or, again,
the “Why there have been no great women artists?” top, which was inspired by an essay by art
historian Linda Nochlin. During her whole career, Chiuri took inspiration and worked with women
who shared her same ideas on the importance of gender equality. Indeed, the artist Penny Slinger
was the one who worked on the scenography of the last fashion show dedicated to Haute Couture;
Slinger is famous for combining in her work architecture and surrealism with feminism since the
1970s and stated that she and Chiuri share the same view of feminism, because "we both believe
in celebrating women for their beauty, as well as their power".
Several hundreds of people attended the ceremony, including names from the élite of the fashion
world: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti, Alber Elbaz and Chiara Ferragni. Some
representatives of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate which owns the label Dior, were present as
well. Of course, Chiuri’s family (her husband Paolo, son Nicolo and daughter Rachele) also
attended the event.
Visibly emotional, Chiuri gave a speech starting in French and then switching to English: <<Even
today I still feel like the curious girl who went to school in Rome to learn fashion design […]
Receiving such an important honor in France, which represents fashion and culture, and from the
hands of a woman like Marlène Schiappa, who expresses the most important values for me, is a new emotion>>; she said, urging young women to believe in themselves and follow their instincts. She then thanked Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, for allowing her to bring her message to the masses: << Dior is a Maison that represents femininity, and for this reason I believe that my commitment is to make women aware of their potential, and I thank the Maison that supports me to give a voice to women and their work. Their commitment can change the world>>.
words Elena Affricani