STORYTELLING IS THE CRUX OF DIOR'S SET-DESIGN STRATEGY. ITS SS23 RUNWAY IS A PRIME EXAMPLE
Photo Courtesy of Dior
3 oct 2022, for frame
Location
Pl. de la Concorde, 75001 Paris, France
Art, Design
Eva Jospin
Production
Brand
Dior’s SS23 set design offered a physical fashion spectacle, with an art installation that built on a Paris map and the legacy of Catherine de Medici.
Key features
Held in the Jardin des Tuileries, Dior’s SS23 show set featured a hyperrealistic installation by the artist Eva Jospin. Attendees travelled through a minimalistic façade into a space studded by the baroque-style sculpture and two streetlights on both sides of the urban-like scene. Jospin crafted baroque architectural details atop a central cardboard structure using natural ingredients such as stalactites, stalagmites, tree branches and leaves. The seating for the audience was placed around the artwork, borrowing the dynamic designs and complex architectural plans of its reference period, with the intention to heighten feelings of motion and sensuality. The self-confident march of the fashion models through these artificial caves was visually supplemented and disrupted by the dancers under the leadership of Dutch choreographers Imre and Maren van Opstal.
Frame's take
Dior SS23’s set design brought forth a multifaceted story that evoked the mood and emotion of the baroque theatre. Pre-show announcements teased the house’s references – an archival map of Paris, the story of Catherine de Medici and the concept of deception and fakeness when depicting nature. Masterfully weaving these storylines into a cohesive narrative, Bureau Betak manifested a memorable fashion catwalk that tapped into the audience’s need for sensory stimulation. In a time when digital representation is becoming more and more important for brands, it doubles down on the relevance of physical presentations.