Fashion

Dior Pays Homage to African Cultures and Fashion with Its 2020 Cruise Collection

Dior Pays Homage to African Cultures and Fashion with Its 2020 Cruise Collection May 8, 2019
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GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
DIOR Cruise 2020


This month, Dior showcased its 2020 Cruise collection in the majestic city of Marrakesh, in Morocco. The fashion house chose the enchanting setting of El Badi Palace as the stage to highlight the one-hundred plus looks that are part of this collection. With this collection, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior Artistic Director for women’s collections, aims to create a conversation between the fashion house’s designs, and African cultures and fashion.

Long inspired by African cultures, Maria Grazia Chiuri chose Wax as the fabric of choice to craft this new collection; a fabric that is symbolic of the African continent. Multiple prints, vibrant and creative, are featured throughout the line-up. The Cruise collection features a special edition of Wax-integrated Dior codes into the weave of the fabrics, with various iconic Dior motifs and prints being revisited in Wax, and even reinvented.

To further support African fashion and craftsmanship, and showcase the complexity of Wax fabric, Maria Grazia Chiuri partnered with Uniwax – one of the very few remaining manufacturers of the fabric that still use traditional methods of production. African designer Pathé Ouédraogo (Pathé’O), also contributed to the collection with a shirt that pays homage to the late Nelson Mandela. Other contributors included: Grace Wales Bonner, winner of the 2016 LVMH Prize, and African-American painter Mickalene Thomas. -GM

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El Badi Palace in Morocco / Raphael Dautigny
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Courtesy of Dior / Morgan O'Donovan
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Courtesy of Dior / Morgan O'Donovan
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Courtesy of Dior / Morgan O'Donovan
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Courtesy of Dior / Morgan O'Donovan
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Courtesy of Dior / Morgan O'Donovan
GuildMagazine_Dior_Cruise_2020
Images courtesy of Dior
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