This collection captures the world of tarot,
which was an important part of Monsieur Dior's personal life.
We wanted to try to reinterpret the symbols contained
in tarot cards with an artist,
which is why I had the pleasure of working with Pietro Ruffo.
I drew on the more esoteric
Visconti, Marseille and English tarot decks
and created images like
large roman silver platters.
Unlike classic tarot, all these elements
are devoid of human figures
and that was the real challenge presented to me by Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Tarot is something Maria Grazia really likes and
it has these magical, mystical aspects at the same time.
From its infancy, it also
gave artists an opportunity to experiment
and create an extremely rich iconographic repertoire.
Take for example the illumination and printing
techniques used, especially for the Visconti tarot.
Visconti tarot is one of the oldest, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The idea was to replicate these pictorial elements and colors on the dresses,
the gold, the blue, the greens and the burgundies
of 16th century Italian pictorial art.
From the moment we receive the brief from Maria Grazia,
we start looking for inspiration,
bringing together lots of things from lots of different areas,
it could be medieval painting, theatrical scenery,
works from all over the world, contemporary art...
Right now, I’m looking at medieval flowers from illuminated manuscripts.
We could start off a little more detailed,
a little closer to these drawings, a little more naturalistic.
Everyone does their research and experimentation.
Then we present our work to Maria Grazia.
We’ll brainstorm ways of positioning them on the clothes with the workshop
before going on to discuss with the fabric team
which technique can be used to produce the most stunning effect.
There is a process we maintain from collection to collection,
an overarching theme, let's say.
The initial sketch by Maria Grazia
gets explained to the head seamstress.
We explain it to Hong Bo starting with a base,
a fabric she loved, that she had developed.
We want the final version to look like this.
Hong Bo's expertise lies in rendering this sketch in a fabric
that in spite of some limitations, can recreate the magic and is
as closely aligned as possible with what Maria Grazia would like.
Haute Couture is a collection involving close collaboration,
whether with the creative studio or the workshop.
Some of the work is carried out on mannequins, as in some instances,
it’s the fabrics draped over the mannequins that give a dress its shape.
These two were mock-ups
used to determine the volume and construction of the dress.
This one, for example, we’re going to put on double organza.
Extra tulle gives it more of the Corolle-inspired Dior shape.
This one is more sheath-like,
we let the fabric fall naturally like that for its flowing quality,
a peplum effect, held in place at two points on the shoulder,
empire line with a cowl back.
This fabric is so light.
This is a dress created using velvet for the base,
which we burn out and reprint.
In gold you can see the part that has been stripped using dévoré.
Once we have our fabric, we can go back and paint it by hand
to restore its density and these drop shadow effects.
That's also part of the challenge with each couture collection,
reinventing and refreshing the techniques used.
Another theme very much in evidence in these collections
is what we call jacquard.
Jacquard is a fabric base on which
exposed threads are woven in to form patterns.
This one we're calling the High Priestess dress.
Both sides look amazing.
These are very much haute couture fabrics.
This fabric is stunning, it’s comprised of four threads:
blue thread, lurex thread, navy thread and ivory thread.
We make the suits at our workshop, the pieces are made
from heavier fabrics and require special construction.
Once Maria Grazia has seen the toile and given us the green light,
approved the silhouette and volume,
we get the paper pattern and take it to Étienne
to position the elements.
Étienne is responsible for the embroidery,
and while he plans the positioning,
we look into the best technique for producing these flowers,
which are produced entirely by hand at the workshop.
Madame Chiuri really values the workshop work.
So she asked us to make a small bodice as well.
Here, you have a hanging flower, which represents The Hanged Man,
which relates to a graphic design by an Italian artist
called Pietro Ruffo who drew us all the tarot cards,
which we had to outsource to an external workshop, in this case, Maison Paloma.
Working with purveyors of haute couture, who are truly
passionate about what they do, is a joy.
Go to Ollier, Lesage, Paloma...
they’ll share their thoughts with you…
they're ready to do whatever's necessary and they're highly skilled.
For me, this is the most interesting part of the role,
seeing how, thanks to various skills,
the same elements can embrace different attitudes.
This dress is the Plumetis dress.
Plumetis are small dots, arranged in staggered rows.
We follow a kind of grid, obtained using a mathematical calculation
gradually introducing these small dots using gold thread
in different shades of gold.
- Yes, the courier… - It’s to go to Dior.
Ok, have a good afternoon! Thanks, bye!
What beautiful work!
I have to say, it's amazingly consistent!
- And done by hand. - Yes.
It’s a very large dress, comprised of many pieces.
Here are the sleeves, skirt, side, back, left.
Of course, the grid traces the edges of each piece,
which is why it flares out at the bottom
and is not as full at the bottom as it is at the top.
It’s so fine… mamma mia! I love it!
The neckline, waistband and cuffs have this edging.
It’s a bit like jewelry.
Produced using seed stitch, fishbone stitch,
stem stitch and some delicate cord to create the squares.
Beautiful, it's amazing!
What we need to do is press it down a bit here.
Position them like that, then we’ll discuss it at the fitting.
I've got a few.
This one, this one, Death, the Empress, the High Priestess.
Come on Flou 1, number 1.
The Flou workshop mainly makes evening dresses
using very lightweight materials, we never make
trousers or jackets.
- Will it be ready for this afternoon? - Absolutely, it’ll be ready.
Hello? Ok, I’m coming.
I’m sorry, Maria Grazia is here, I've got to go.
See you later!
We have to go to the final fitting with Maria Grazia.
We’ve still got another four outfits to finish.
There’s the embroidery we received yesterday.
See you later!
I’m taking my mobile, so call me if you need to.
What makes couture so beautiful is the freedom of expression it allows,
you could say that every dress tells its own story.
I decided to work on a film with Matteo Garrone.
The plot for the film alludes to Italo Calvino's
The Castle of Crossed Destinies.
We created this story about these characters who
go on an intimate journey within themselves
inside this labyrinthine castle.
The character is this young girl who encounters the cards...
like Alice in Wonderland,
a young girl searching for her identity.
Exploring her masculine and feminine sides,
like a fusion... which is kind of
what we both did, Maria Grazia and I.
We’ve tried to create a sort of fusion together,
she designed the dresses with the characters in mind,
based on the story and for my part, I was able
to create a cinematic narrative
to support the collection she produced.
The perfect blend, in a way!
A bit more, stop!
We’re shooting the new haute couture collection.
We’ve got 5 or 6 different sets.
We began with the idea of using geometric elements,
straight lines, spheres...
the final set will feature a black background
with gold spheres and a white horse.
Customers who weren’t able to experience the emotion of the fashion show will be able
to appreciate the beauty of the mood and the lighting in these photos.
I don't actually try to make the images look like paintings,
it just comes out that way – it’s my roots,
which are orthodox.
I’m Bulgarian. I was born and raised in Bulgaria
and you can feel it in my work: the icons, the gold...
Just the eyes!
We’ve also used pieces from films.
These kind of double sided rectangles with a gold side and a very dark,
very patinated bronze side.
The backgrounds we’ve used for each photo are actually
the backgrounds from tarot cards, created by Bonifacio Bembo
for the noble Visconti family in the 15th century.
The historical link really serves to enhance the magical feel
that Maria Grazia wanted to have in this collection.
I think it's normal and human to seek comfort in magic and fantasy
so as to imagine a more peaceful future.