Photo: Getty
Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior Cruise 2024 show in Mexico City was not only an ode to iconic artist Frida Kahlo and her penchant for blurring gender-related boundaries but it also paid homage to a nation that has inspired the house of Dior since its inception. Christian Dior had always found inspiration in faraway lands and Mexico has been a prominent muse for Dior throughout the years. Therefore, this show at Colegio de San Ildefonso – once home to the National Preparatory Scholl that Kahlo attended and the site of her first meeting with Diego Riviera – was simply a continuation of this infatuation with Mexico and its vibrant culture.
While Chiuri has put on a show very much in line with contemporary Mexico (Dior worked with local artisans to create everything from jewelry, weaving, and sash belts to ‘sombreros’ and captivating embroideries), it is most certainly a reflection of the past as it draws upon both a Mexican icon and Dior’s own history.
Below, take a deep dive into the longstanding relationship between the House of Dior and Mexico.
♦ In 1947, Christian Dior presented his first collection and laid the foundations of an atelier that would be influenced by travel and foreign cultures for years to come. One of the dresses in the collection was called Mexico.
♦ This was followed by Acapulco, Soirée à Mexico, and Mexique, which was a tulle dress embroidered with golden scales, dreamed up for Fall/Winter 1951.
Sketch of Mexique dress, 1951 Fall Winter Haute Couture. Photo: Courtesy of Dior
♦ Years later in 1972, then Creative Director Marc Bohan brought two presentations of the haute couture Fall/Winter collection to the Camino Real Hotel for the benefit of the charity Aldeas Infantiles SOS de Mexico I.A.P.
♦ The relationship deepened in 1980 with the ready-to-wear and haute couture Spring/Summer 1981 shows held at the Casino del Bosque, once again for philanthropic purposes.
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart attending the Oscars ceremony in 1952. Photo: Courtesy of Dior
♦ Over the years, Dior supported numerous exhibitions and events in Mexico across artistic fields from music to gastronomy.
♦ In 2002, John Galliano, then Artistic Director, paid tribute to this historic relationship through the haute couture Fall/Winter collection highlighting the creative patrimony of Mexico.
Passage 36, 1970 Fall-Winter Haute Couture
♦ From August 30 to September 30, 2018, Dior opened the doors of a pop-up store in El Palacio de Hierro, where the first pages of the enduring affinity woven between the House and Mexico were written.
♦ Chiuri herself has also highlighted this rapport in the past with her Cruise show in 2019 which found inspiration in escaramuzas – a form of sisterhood that brings together female riders who have claimed the right to compete in traditional Mexican rodeo competitions on the same level as men
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