Virginia Woolf inspires Dior's autumn collection
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 autumn/winter 2025.
The final week of fashion month is underway. It unofficially began as always with Dior, which hosted its autumn/winter 2025 collection on the first afternoon of Paris Fashion Week, kicking off the final jam-packed few days of an exciting season.
For creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, this collection was an opportunity to delve into the house's history and to celebrate one of literary's greats, Virginia Woolf, specifically referencing her novel 'Orlando' and reinventing some Victorian classics. She also gave a new twist to some of the house's most beloved pieces, celebrating the concept of reinvention in fashion.
"The purpose of this proposition is to demonstrate how clothing is a receptacle that affirms cultural, aesthetic, and social codes," the show notes read. "Temporalities sediment the creations in a continuous interplay of inspirations welcoming the imprint of bodies and modern desires."
Theme and inspiration
This season's collection took inspiration from Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel 'Orlando' giving Grazia Chiuri the opportunity to put her own modern spin on the ruff, tailcoats and elaborate corsetry – pieces that represent what she calls "a distant era that defies time and genres".
The collection was filled with partly sheer and ruffled dresses, tops and skirts, as well as lace bloomers, knee-high socks and layered flouncy shirting. But, there were also some much more recent references in the collection, most notably the revival of John Galliano's 'J'adore Dior' tees, as well as white shirts in homage to Gianfranco Ferré's time at the house, and – of course – a few Bar Jackets. Looking into the house's archive for inspiration, the creative director merged the modern with the traditional, all in the spirit of metamorphosis.
In the show notes, the house explained that Grazia Chiuri wanted to "revisit the memories and gestures that belong to Dior’s heritage by forging a pluralistic dialogue with the history of fashion".
Hero pieces
The slogan tanks and tees will no doubt be just as big a hit this time around as they were in the early 2000s, while all the ladylike lace is set to rule the red carpet over the coming months, dramatic ruffs included.
The setting
The show took place at the Jardin des Tuileries.
Who was there?
It was a typically starry front row for Dior this season with the likes of Natalie Portman, Lily James and Michelle Monaghan all in attendance.
You Might Also Like
