Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri on why nudity’s different when it’s photographed by a woman

She has a point – there is a distinction, of course, between the male and female gaze, but sometimes that difference is internalised and the end results can look the same. It’s that internalisation – what it feels like to wear clothes – that is so beautifully articulated in the new film Chiuri has just released online to showcase Dior’s autumn/winter 2022 collection.

Her models glide down the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles – what could be a bigger statement about external display than that? – while dancers dressed in nude body suits, choreographed by Chiuri’s long term collaborator Sharon Eyal, explore their bodies through movement.

Interestingly, Chiuri says she didn’t have mirrors at home growing up and even now, in her apartment in Paris, relies on the mirror in her lift for a full length view. “I think maybe that’s one way to stay sane about the way you look,” she laughs, “especially in the age of the selfie”.

As for the clothes, they are glorious. Quintessentially Dior, with wasp waists, but deconstructed to the point where they look as though they might float away. And – if this matters to a Dior customer – they’re practical. There’s a white blouse with a detachable broderie anglaise bib, a black nylon coat and matching skirt (in Dior’s famous Cannage quilting) that offers a new kind of suit and neat cashmere coats.