Dior’s Spring-Summer 2025 haute couture collection by Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, turns classic codes into something fresh. Staged in the garden of the Rodin Museum, this collection explores the House’s heritage through shapes, textures, and a certain sense of playful distortion, all while nodding to past innovations without lingering in nostalgia.
Chiuri, in her ninth year at Dior, draws on archival references, like the revolutionary silhouette introduced by a young Yves Saint Laurent in 1958. Rather than replicating that legacy, she sends out silhouettes that morph, expand, and contract, highlighting a fascination with structural underpinnings. One moment, there’s an airy take on a crinoline that reveals its hidden framework; the next, a tailored jacket meets a flared mini, echoing a mid-century outline but landing firmly in the present. There’s a sense of shifting scale throughout, underscored by lace-lined separates that dip into a realm of half-fantasy, half-reality.
An iteration of the House’s Cigale design from the early ’50s surfaces as well, this time cut from moiré fabric and paired with a contoured jacket, making old references feel relevant in 2025. Meanwhile, black coats command attention, orchestrating sharp silhouettes across the runway. A final gown—embroidered in dimensional burnished silver—seems to crystallize the show’s intent: a continuous interplay between memory and modern flair.
Alongside the main event, Chiuri presents an immersive collaboration with artist Rithika Merchant. Inspired by her family history in Kerala, Merchant has created nine paintings, each transposed onto large-scale textile panels by Karishma Swali and the Chanakya ateliers. “The seeds we plant in the past grow into the flowers of the present,” Merchant says, capturing the spirit of unity behind these works. Gradients of stitches, diverse hues, and layered materials converge to translate her gouache and ink drawings into a monumental statement celebrating female narratives.
As part of Dior’s ongoing commitment to highlight women artists worldwide, the installation is open to the public for five days, from January 28 to February 2, 2025. Visitors can walk among these pieces in the Rodin Museum garden, experiencing a dialogue between art, craft, and couture that underscores the House’s dedication to invention and empowerment.
