of the moment

february 2020

kevin tachman photo

a lot has been written about the christian dior couture spring 2020 show last month in paris. dior designer, maria grazia chiuri, has ambitions and also something to say, literally, in the form of twenty one banners suspended above the catwalk.  hailing battlecries of the feminine and her collaboration with artist, judy chicago, is timely and also right on trend.  (if i can call feminism a trend which happily, and also a bit smugly, it seems to be these days.)  

the show was held in tandem with a collaborative presentation of chicago’s work ‘the female divine’, a massive structure of an abstract womb, on view for one week in the garden of the musée rodin in paris.  this reminded me of my very favorite chicago work from the mid ‘70s, ‘the dinner party’, succintly described as “vagina china”, a triangular table setting of 39, each celebrating the role of historical women.

so there’s that (a cool collab of fashion and art) and also this gorgeous dior collection of greccian inspired goddess draped garmentry that i am particularly enthralled with.  the so of-the-moment headbands and hairpieces also blew my mind.  the craftmanship and workmanship reminds me (as always) that fashion is certainly art and should also promote an elevating message to go with it.  

i love the linking of this most important post-modern feminist artist in tandem with dior’s show, binding the requirement (in my opinion) that in today’s climate, fashion should also have meaning.  what do you think?

photos via vogue runway