Christian Dior Fall / Winter 2018

PARIS — Under late capitalism, just about any idea can be transformed into a commodity, that is, a good or service for sale. This process gives consumers a choice of everything from chewing gum to Che Guevara T-shirts. Depending on one’s political persuasion, this is either the greatest thing or yet further evidence that this hand basket in which civilization is hurtling is headed due south. This thorny issue proved anything but for Maria Grazia Chiuri as she drew inspiration from the protest movements of a half century ago. It was 1968, a tumultuous year the world over, then that provided the impetus to examine once more the courage to toss out old ideas, overturn orthodoxies, in a quest for the ultimate prize, authenticity. A cursory look through the headline news of today reveals acts of protest and resistance are very much contemporary manifestations, and yet it was a particular mode of protest glimpsed through the historical and wholly editorial lenses of Condé Nast and Hearst all those years ago that served as the backdrop for Chiuri’s latest collection. The runway, masterfully realized by Bureau Betak, was in fact skinned with overlaid and torn-away protest placards and pages ripped from late 1960s issues of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Whatever anyone makes of all this is an open question, but Chiuri’s earnestness is not to be doubted nor for that matter is Christian Dior SE’s drive to boost earnings. On the afternoon, five models at Next including Selena Forrest, Moir