Behind the scenes of Dior's Haute Couture looks

When the casual fashion fan attends a high fashion show, all he sees is the seven to ten minute catwalk presentation of handsome looks, filled with impressive performance spaces, A-list attendees and fanfare outside of the show and online. However, when you look behind the curtain, months and months of work by artisans reveal that this is no easy feat to pull off. For Dior's fall-winter 2023 haute couture show, the workshops worked intensively for weeks to bring to life the creations that showed at the start of the week.

A detailed photo of the Look 60.
© Melie Hirtz
This season, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri focused on the female goddess, a motif dating back thousands of years to the very early goddesses like Athena, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra. She found freedom in a restrained color palette, focusing on black, white, grays and using silver and gold as bright contrasts. For Look 42, a black maxi dress with an ornately beaded cape, it looks simple from the front, but the cape in the back takes center stage when seen from the back.

Watch 42.
Courtesy of Christian Dior
High fashion workshops work together to create looks, with some artisans adopting certain looks based on their skills. Look 42 was worked primarily by Vermont, who created the delicate beads seen on the cape. Creating such an effortless flow on a garment requires years of expertise that come from passing down traditions of craftsmanship from generation to generation.

Vermont is working on Look 42.
© Melinda Triana

Fashion Jul 9, 2023 0 60 Add to Reading List

Behind the scenes of Dior's Haute Couture looks

When the casual fashion fan attends a high fashion show, all he sees is the seven to ten minute catwalk presentation of handsome looks, filled with impressive performance spaces, A-list attendees and fanfare outside of the show and online. However, when you look behind the curtain, months and months of work by artisans reveal that this is no easy feat to pull off. For Dior's fall-winter 2023 haute couture show, the workshops worked intensively for weeks to bring to life the creations that showed at the start of the week.

A detailed photo of the Look 60.

This season, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri focused on the female goddess, a motif dating back thousands of years to the very early goddesses like Athena, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra. She found freedom in a restrained color palette, focusing on black, white, grays and using silver and gold as bright contrasts. For Look 42, a black maxi dress with an ornately beaded cape, it looks simple from the front, but the cape in the back takes center stage when seen from the back.

Watch 42.

Courtesy of Christian Dior

High fashion workshops work together to create looks, with some artisans adopting certain looks based on their skills. Look 42 was worked primarily by Vermont, who created the delicate beads seen on the cape. Creating such an effortless flow on a garment requires years of expertise that come from passing down traditions of craftsmanship from generation to generation.