This Subversive Dior Gown Is Fit for a Modern Renegade

In the new series What I Loved Yesterday, Harper's Bazaar editors highlight one standout look from the previous day at Paris Fashion Week.

The first official runway of Paris Fashion Week's fall 2023 season mesmerized me even through the semi-sharp pixels of a runway livestream. Dior collaborated with Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos on an immersive set titled "Miss Dior Valkyrie," an homage to Christian Dior's legendary sister, Catherine. It took the form of a bulbous, undulating sculpture made from textile scraps and glittering embellishments that ballooned from the venue's ceiling and over the runway like a glamorous, protective guardian creature. Flower motifs throughout nodded to Catherine's profession as a florist.

Staring at it, I thought, "It's going to be hard to take my eyes off that." Then the show started, and I ate my words.

3,625 miles away, I lost my breath for a moment when a red-magenta Dior ball gown appeared amid a collection largely filled with full midi skirts, bar jackets, and button-up shirts in a black and white palette. The dress wasn't the saturated cherry of fall 2023's dominant color trend. Instead, it was covered in embellishments that glistened like a scraped knee that has only halfway healed. It had the same shape as the tea-length dresses synonymous with Maria Grazia Chirui's Dior. The ribbon belt cinched in a bow at the waist added sweetness that didn't overshadow the dress's can't-look-away beading, which appeared almost sticky. I instantly realized this was a red carpet gown, not just for anyone but specifically for a modern renegade.

Make no mistake: This dress sparkled with the wattage of a best dressed contender for awards season, and I'll admit to re-watching BAZAAR fashion director Nicole Fritton's video of it gliding by on the runway more than twice. I also thought that it may have been one of the more subversive dresses on the runway.

Dior's fall 2023 collection intended to present "a new reading of the history of the 1950s," according to show notes. Catherine Dior, one of the collection's three inspirations, lived through one of history's darkest periods. She was a member of the French resistance in WWII and a concentration camp survivor. When she was released at the end of the war, she was awarded several medals of honor for her service before turning to a quiet life cultivating flowers and, later, preserving her brother's design legacy through her role as president of the Christian Dior museum.

With this context, I wondered if the ballgown was yet another way Chiuri referenced the heroine at the heart of Dior, alongside all those florals in the decor and other looks. The dress's silhouette was a house classic, but it had an edge conveying decades of strength and power.

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