Dior Women's F/W19 Collection Makes A Bold Statement

Decked out in checks, gingham and inspired by Edwardian-glam, this ready-to-wear collection speaks to the daring rebel within.

Dior's Fall-Winter Women's Ready-To-Wear 2019, presented by Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, took on an unconventional start as the designer handed the stage over to Italian artist, Tomaso Binga, who signed off her work under a male pseudonym in the 1970s, in silent protest against sexism in the art industry. Binga set the scene for the show with a poetry reading, as well as, with images of the artist's younger self forming the various letters of the alphabet; an expression of femininity that transcends both gender and anatomy, making up the backdrop of the place in which the show was held.

In this collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri was particularly inspired by the English post-war subculture of the Teddy Girls, a female counterpoint of Teddy Boys. These feisty females were known for their Edwardian-inspired 'dandy' outfits, including men's jackets with velvet scarves, ample skirts, jeans and black leather jackets (a la Yves Saint Laurent's signature leather jacket for the Dior Maison).

Offering a reimagined perspective of British subculture fashion, Maria Grazia Chiuri chose Princess Magaret as the character that embodied the rebellious, elegant and irreverent nature of her newest ready-to-wear collection, referring to the young princess choosing to wear a dress by Dior, instead of one made by a British dressmaker, for her official 21st birthday portrait photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1951.

Majority of the key looks in the collection consisted of bucket hats, embellished with netting- a nod to the English fascinator hat, a reinterpretation of the Bar suit into something more masculine, with velvet collars and a nipped waist; tulle skirts and bodysuits embellished with flowers, with gingham and checks popping up all over the collection in the form of jackets, shirts and more.