French fashion house Dior took over the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on Thursday night to present the 2022 Cruise Collection.
The new collection takes inspiration from Greek art, with Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri describing it as a union between “the power of heritage and contemporary inventiveness”.
Ms Chiuri told Women’s Wear Daily that she was adamant to have the show take place in the iconic fixture which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
“The idea to show inside the stadium was my obsession, because I think it speaks about the relationship that the clothes have with the body – a body that is a performing body,” she said.
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Furthering the fusion between space and fashion, Ms Chiuri cited the peplos robe worn by ancient Greek women as one of the key inspirations of the new collection.
“The peplos also is an element that allows the body to move freely, that evokes women in movement, and no one more than an athlete moves their body in a really active way. So my idea was to culminate all these elements inside the show,” she told WWD.
The gowns take on a more ‘active’ look this time around, as their designs don’t strictly adhere to the average eveningwear paradigms.
One of Ms Chiuri’s personal favorites from the collection is a toga-like black recycled nylon dress with adjustable drawstrings.\
“I want it for myself: I think it’s super functional, super cool,” she said.
The Dior team also enlisted the talents of several Greek artists and designers such as tailor Arts Tzernovakis and artist Christiana Soul.
Joining the models and Dior team in the stadium were around 500 guest, including A-list film stars, prominent personalities and government officials.
Among those were Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Prime Minister’s wife Mareva Mitsotaki, Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni and legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve.
In the coming days, the house of Dior will take photos at the archeological sites of Herodeion, the Ancient Agora, Nemea and Sounio.
