“I am especially happy in the company of gardeners and plants,” wrote Christian Dior in his memoirs. His main passion might have been couture, but it was famously rivaled by his sincere fondness for horticultural pursuits, ones that came at an early age where at his family’s home in Normandy, France, the young designer and his mother tended to a 2.5-acre flower garden.
Over countless collections and seasons his penchant for everything flora has blossomed, manifesting in delicate prints and embroideries which have become one of the substantial (and most loved) pillars of the great house of Dior.
Today, the founding Monsieur’s successors have taken turns celebrating, as well as adding to, his floral universe.
For Spring/Summer 2020, Maria Grazia Chiuri revealed just how the Dior garden grows, (think straw hats, floral-embroidery and textured raffia dresses), creating an inclusive garden, a place of co-existence and diversity in which every gesture counts.
“It appeared essential to me that this legacy be addressed with a new perspective: flowers and plants don’t just serve an ornamental purpose, they are our environment,” says Chiuri. “We have a commitment to care for them, today more than ever.”
Finding in the herbaria a source of inspiration, the designer visited the Grand Herbier at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, the largest and one of the oldest herbariums in the world.
Watch below in this exclusive video as she discovers the museum’s wonderful archives on nature’s beauty and diversity in preparation for her magical S/S 2020 show.
"https://www.youtube.com/embed/gF_RdhaN8DI"
Now, discover Dior’s 30 Montaigne pop-ups in Dubai.
Text by Dina Kabbani
