It's all about the art of divination
After the success of Dior's 2020-2021 autumn/winter couture presentation, Le confinement, Maria Grazia Chiuri continues the fantasy with the French maison's 2021 spring/summer haute couture collection featuring the art of tarot.
For many years, tarot cards have not only laid one's fortune to the table, but also presented unlimited inspiration. With the great designer Christian Dior being superstitious himself, it became inevitable for the divination art to seep into his works, even the future designs of the luxury brand.
But for Chiuri, using a deck of tarot cards as a source of inspiration is a way to bring optimism, wonder, and escape after such a gloomy year.
"What was nice for me about the tarot is that when you are in a difficult moment, something that is magical can help us, to help us think better,” Dior's creative director tells Vogue. “It’s a long time we’ve all been staying alone. You think much more about many aspects of yourself and your life. That’s my belief: This year changed us a lot.”
For the second time around, the French luxury brand enlisted the help of Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone to bring the collection into a fashion film, Le Château du Tarot, which was shot in the grand Castello di Sammezzano in Tuscany.
The 15-minute film follows a lady, sitting for a tarot reading. After being transported in a dream, the protagonist wandered around the castle where she encountered tarot card figures such as the High Priestess, Temperance, Justice, Death, Hanged Man, and Destiny, all dressed in lavish Renaissance-inspired couture.
“At this moment, we are all lost with our personal lives,” Chiuri tells Harper's Bazaar. “This attraction to magic can help us have hope for the future.”
Watch Le Château du Tarot here:
Stills from Dior's Le Château du Tarot.