Yesterday evening, among cherry blossom trees, Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri showed her Pre-Fall 2025 collection inside the garden of the To-Ji Temple. Situated in Kyoto, the temple was built during the 8th Century and is the tallest wooden structure in Japan. The magical setting was made even more spectacular by Chiuri’s designs, many of which called to mind Mnsr. Dior’s long-held fascination with Japan and its history; he became the first couturier to show a collection in the country in 1953, thus signifying to the world that his label was not just Parisian but global.
Chiuri’s Pre-Fall offering included nods to traditional kimono shapes and their relationship to the body. She also partnered with the Tatsumura Textile atelier, which Mnsr. Dior himself collaborated with in the 1950s. Her elegant, streamlined silhouettes included silk fringed column skirts and off-the-shoulder knits, cropped kimono style jackets, and wide-leg pants hand painted with branches and flowers. There were sheer, breezy wrap dresses and embroidered outerwear styles, everything light and airy feeling, as if floating through that spectacular lit-up garden. Chiuri understands the delicate balance between lightness and handcraft and the synergy that can come through when a garment is both effortless and an intricate work of art. One might call it zen fashion. With Chiuri’s Dior though, even if subtle, it’s also always an exploration of sartorial imagination.
Dior Pre-Fall ’25
Open Gallery
AloJapan.com