The Dior Couture Paris Exhibition Worth Travelling To This January

Maria Grazia Chiuri has commissioned feminist artist Judy Chicago to create an immersive set for the Dior haute couture spring/summer 2020 show. Scheduled to take place at the Musée Rodin in Paris on 20th January, the design features a prominent goddess figure overlooking a catwalk with thousands of flowers in bloom. In the days following the presentation, the general public will be invited to explore the installation, which Chiuri and Chicago have called The Female Divine.

Naturally Chiuri, whose tenure at the house has been defined by activist messaging, has added an empowering subtext to the blossoming runway. Chicago designed 21 banners positing questions, such as “What if women ruled the world?”, in embroidery stitched at a craft school in India. Chiuri chose to outsource this aspect of the project to support female students in traditionally male-dominated areas.

Housed within the impactful set will sit a table laden with exclusive homewares featuring Chicago’s signature spiral and shell illustrations, which are associated with goddess symbolism. The tableware will subsequently be stocked at Dior Maison on Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

“Judy Chicago invites us to reconsider the roles and power relationships that determine, through the lens of gender, the way we live together today,” Dior said in a statement relayed by WWD. Throughout Chicago’s career, the American artist has used mixed media, including needlework and china-painting, to create collaborative female-centred work that defies the patriarchy she sees. Her much-lauded installation The Dinner Party, 1974–9, saw her position 39 prominent fictional and non-fictional female figures, from Boadicea to Virginia Woolf, around a dinner table to dramatic effect.

As fashion strives to pave a path towards a greener future, the pressure on brands to recycle mindful show sets is mounting. The trees in Chiuri’s urban garden spring/summer 2020 set were replanted by the collective Coloco, but, so far, plans to take The Female Divine outside of the Musée Rodin are yet to be outlined. The general public can take in Chicago’s work in the Paris institution from 21st to 26th January.