Fashion
Dior SS25 was all about strength and sport
Each season, we break down everything you need to know about the new collections in The Fashion Week Cheat Sheet. After speaking to the designers about their inspiration, their hero pieces, the faces on the catwalk and the names on the front row, we present your complete guide to spring/summer 2025.
For spring/summer 2025, Maria Grazia Chiuri wanted to emphasise intention and function when it comes to dressing, to focus on the body, rather than on the product itself. Taking various pieces from the house’s archive and reinventing them in a way that allows the wearer to move and feel free, this collection was a celebration of the human body and of sport in fashion.
On the designer’s mood board for the season were strong, powerful women including Diana, the goddess of hunting, and Wonder Woman. She reinvented Dior silhouettes for the modern wearer, and presented a seriously sporty collection that included leotards, tracksuits and relaxed tailoring.
Theme and inspiration
“We need to reflect on our relationship with the body,” Grazia Chiuri told reporters backstage. “The relationship with the body is the essential part of being a designer and Mr Dior created construction for women which was more conservative – women moved their bodies less at that time. My obsession is making pieces which are easy to wear, using technology but also couture know-how.”
For this reason, the designer wanted to rework some of the house classics and give women more freedom of movement with them, while she also looked to the Amazons for inspiration.
“I reflect on this idea because they were the first women to wear pants and the idea that you had to somehow renounce your femininity,” she explained. Grazia Chiuri reinterpreted the Amazon dress, which was dreamed up by Dior for the autumn/winter 1951 collection, as well as other iconic pieces from the archive.
There were also plenty of sporty references in the collection, playing into this idea of a strong body, while graphics (checks, horizontal and vertical lines) and black and white hues dominated, as did the Miss Dior logo.
Hero pieces
In terms of loosening up the classics, she did this most notably with the famous Bar Jacket. “We worked to make everything more soft to work with the body,” she explained. And the team also redesigned the Lady Dior bag, softening it so that it can be worn cross-body and become part of your silhouette.
The setting
Dior always works closely with notable artists on its show set, and this year, the brand turned to Sagg Napoli, a multidisciplinary artist and archer to design the space and perform during the show.
“A modern Amazon, Sagg Napoli sees fashion as a visual attribute, an affirmation of her athletic shape,” the brand explained. “She tackles one of the oldest disciplines – archery – which demands the harmonisation of body and mind.”
On the walls was written the phrase: “May the building of a strong mind and a strong body be the greatest work I have ever made.”
Who was there?
Anya Taylor-Joy, Natalie Portman and Jennifer Garner were all on the front row, as was Ava Phillippe, who we caught up with before the show.
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