During the Christian Dior Spring 2017 Haute Couture live show which took place in Tokyo, a number of additional new looks were unveiled. Specially designed for the occasion by Maria Grazia Chiuri, the Artistic Director drew her inspiration from the dress Jardin Japonais which had been designed by Monsieur Dior in 1953.

Chiuri has designed eight additional and entirely new creations. Like Christian Dior’s lucky number, and the couturier’s spirit, revisited in a contemporary take, has a tangible presence in these looks. The Jardin Japonais dress, with its cherry blossom motif, a reference to the festival of hanami which celebrates the arrival of spring. Fluid dresses that hint at the curves beneath, jackets, a coat, and a long hooded cape are decorated with delicate embroidered flowers, paired with bird motifs, expressing the meeting of the haute couture savoir-faire of the ateliers at 30 Avenue Montaigne with the culture of Japan.

The strong link between Dior and Japan has been perpetuated by the couturier’s successors. In 1959, the house of Dior was selected by Empress Michiko to create three dresses for her civil wedding. The Land of the Rising Sun has continuously inspired Dior’s various Creative Directors ever since: John Galliano made it the central theme of his Spring 2007 Haute Couture collection, with fabric origami and a coat displaying the wave motif from Hokusai’s famous print. Raf Simons in turn was inspired by the cosmopolitan energy of Tokyo and presented his Fall 2015 show in the capital. It followed in the tradition of Dior shows held in Japan, organized in 1964, 1968 and 1986 with the creations of Marc Bohan, then in 1993 with those of Gianfranco Ferré. This tradition is being revived by the House with the Haute Couture Spring 2017 show. As the unequivocal expression of the reciprocated passion between Dior and Japan, the country has been the scene of a number of exhibitions dedicated to the House, along with new boutiques, from the location inaugurated in Ginza in 1998, to the one opening its doors today in the same neighborhood.

A few days before the Christian Dior Spring 2017 Haute Couture show in Tokyo, Artistic Director Maria Grazia Chiuri takes us behind the scenes to watch the casting and the fittings before the big reveal.