From your easily-laddered M&S multipacks to your save-for-special-occasions Woolfords, tights are the unsung hero of many a woman’s winter wardrobe.
But today Maria Grazia Chiuri gave humble hosiery the couture makeover at the Dior Haute Couture SS22 show in Paris, serving deliciously bedazzled legwear with several otherwise subdued looks.
The nude pantyhose came bedecked with large crystals that shimmered and twinkled with every step, jazzing up everything from a grisaille-painted grey suit to a white embroidered frock coat and a grey tulle evening dress. As statement and logo tights continue their ascendancy as easy winter outfit pick-me-ups, these Dior disco tights are surely destined to become Insta-catnip.
The clothes themselves were largely understated and simple, and came in a calming palette of white, black, cream and grey. Maria Grazia Chiuri’s SS2 vision focussed less on the dramatic silhouettes, outlandish embellishment and fairytale wonder that is typically associated with couture week, and instead championed the techniques of the atelier, which meant a focus on the construction of garments. Embroidery for example came three-dimensional, giving fabric its structure rather than acting purely as a decorative detail.
Elsewhere Chiuri celebrated the very “essence of couture: to dress the body,” as the notes said. And thus cashmere coats embraced the silhouette, while sleek white capes concealed jacket-and-trouser ensembles. Pleated skirts billowed under structured coats, while the silver lamé jacquard fabrics of dresses highlight each movement of the body.
Given the emphasis on craft, Grazia Chiuri wanted to shed light on her creative dialogue with India, and thus the walls lining the runway were covered by vast artworks by major Indian artists Madhvi and Manu Parekh, recreated in embroidery by the Chanakya ateliers and the Chanakya School of Craft, a Mumbai-based embroidery export house with whom Chiuri has been working for two decades.
These reproductions became artworks in their own right, underscoring the relationship between atelier, artist and couturier. For those keen to experience the works, the show set at the Musee Rodin will be open to the public until January 30.
