DIOR CRUISE: THE GREEK PEPLOS ALWAYS INSPIRES

The Greek peplos always inspires. Four years ago Karl Lagerfel for Chanel's Cruise collection had a reproduction of the Parthenon built at the Grand Palais to show off his peplum dresses. 

French fashion house Dior on Thursday returned to live audience shows with a firework-punctuated presentation of its 2022 Cruise collection in Athens at the Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games. Pleated and draped, in immaculate chiffon, golden fringes or blue embroidery in reference to the Greek iconography, the models marched through the Panatenaico stadium, complete with fireworks. "A parade is like a concert, as the theatre (...) the guests are part of the show with us", said Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of the women’s collections of Dior. 

Greek artisans whose work was featured in the collection included a tailor and embroiderer from Argos in the Peloponnese, a silk factory in the northeastern town of Soufli, and a maker of fisherman's caps from the port of Piraeus. 

 The ancient peplos, this traditional dress worn by ancient Greeks, definitely inspired the new Christian Dior collection.