A Close-Up Look At Dior's Homage To India For Pre-Fall

Maria Grazia Chiuri has consistently walked the talk on cross-cultural exchanges, espousing the belief that artisans from other countries deserve the same recognition as those in haute couture. For Pre-Fall 2023, she sent out one of her most heartfelt letters of friendship to the craftspeople of India, presenting the collection in Mumbai at the end of March.

Incredible India. Credit: Prerna Nainwal, Courtesy of Dior

For the uninitiated, Dior has had a long-running relationship with India. Marc Bohan – the maison’s artistic director from 1961 to 1989 – had travelled to Mumbai and Delhi in 1962 to showcase his creations for the house. More than 60 years on and that conversation continues to percolate: Present-day creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri has regularly roped in Karishma Swali – managing and creative director of the Mumbai-based textile and embroidery atelier Chanakya – as a collaborator for her collections.

The Book tote gets extra vibrant for Pre-Fall thanks to prints showcasing the colourful flora and fauna that are native to India.

Prerna Nainwal, Courtesy of Dior

For Pre-Fall 2023, the main colour palette, motifs, silhouettes and materials sport a seamless fusion of both their influences. Signatures such as the Book tote, for example, have been made over in lively prints of flora and fauna native to India, while the traditionally structured Bar jacket is now more relaxed and updated with a Nehru-style collar.

Nehru collars on jackets (as seen in foreground) is Dior's Indo-chic take on its quintessential Bar jackets.

Prerna Nainwal, Courtesy of Dior

Chiuri’s heartfelt homage to Indian culture in Dior Pre-Fall 2023 includes the incorporation of several crafts indigenous to various Indian regions. Among them: aari, which involves the use of a super-fine needle to chain-stitch sequins onto fabric from the top instead of the underside; and block printing, the millennia-old Indian craft of dyeing and colouring fabric using wooden blocks.

The framed up motif on a jacket is achieved through a technique called couching which uses thin threads less than a millimetre-wide.

Prerna Nainwal, Courtesy of Dior

There is also a technique called couching – in which artisans manipulate thin threads less than a millimetre-wide to create naturalistic imagery with dense, decorative borders; and shisha, an embroidery technique for attaching small pieces of mirrors onto fabric. All of these are the handiwork of artisans from the Chanakya atelier and its non-profit institute, the Chanakya School of Craft, which equips women from low-income communities with artisanal savoir faire.

In addition, the vividly coloured silks used to craft tunics, knotted skirts and draped dresses are a nod to Bohan’s repertoire and woven according to archaic techniques that have been preserved in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

the braiding technique framing the crystals and precious stones used for the dress in the background is something often found in royal garments.

Prerna Nainwal, Courtesy of Dior

The shine factor is high in Dior Pre-Fall 2023 as Chiuri wanted to pay tribute to India's famous legacy in needlework. Some of the classic embroidery techniques employed, however, have been updated for modern needs. Take, for example, zardozi – the art of creating dense bullion, or braiding, with gold or silver threads to frame crystals and precious stones that has long been favoured by royalty.

To make the finished garments lighter in weight than what their ornate surfaces might suggest, artisans from the Chanakya atelier went with silk organza for the base fabric as well as materials that are small and reminiscent of jewels for embellishments. Meanwhile, the bullion itself has been cut into tiny strips and attached by hand with stitches so minute, they’re barely visible.

This article is adapted from a story that first appeared in the June 2023 Time, Labour, Love Edition of FEMALE


Share This Story: