On the last day of April, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri began the 2020 Cruise shows in Marrakech. She had her models walking around a pool which glittered with floating candles. Collaborations between brands, designers, and artists are increasingly becoming a trend, and Chiuri made no exceptions. She had Grace Wales Bonner, a London-based designer and Mickalene Thomas, African-American visual artist, to reimagine and redesign Dior’s iconic silhouettes, the Bar jacket and the New Look skirt. These are not the only collaboraters, however. In order to combat criticism of cultural appropriation, Dior has invited designers from different countries to contribute to the aesthetic, for example the headwraps some models wore were designed by Stephen Jones. She also chose to include a quote by Moroccan author, Tahar Ben Jelloun.
“Culture teaches us to live together, teaches us that we’re not alone in the world, that other people have different traditions and ways of living that are just as valid as our own.”