EXCLUSIVE: Dior Documentary Spotlights Women Artists
PARIS — “She has changed the way I look at the world because she has changed the way I look at women.”
That’s how Lo?c Prigent, a French filmmaker with documentaries on Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier under his belt, described the impact of covering Maria Grazia Chiuri’s collections for Dior.
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His latest project, “Her Dior — Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Collaborations With Women Artists,” is set to bow on the fashion house’s YouTube channel on March 8, which is International Women’s Day. A preview screening is scheduled for March 6 during Paris Fashion Week.
The 70-minute film puts the spotlight on the artists, photographers, performers and writers who have collaborated with Chiuri on her runway show sets, collections and advertising campaigns, bringing their feminist messaging to a global stage.
Among them are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — whose essay “We Should All Be Feminists” inspired a statement T-shirt in Chiuri’s debut show in 2016 — and artists such as Judy Chicago, Penny Slinger, Tomaso Binga, Mickalene Thomas and Joana Vasconcelos.
Prigent captured them in fly-on-the-wall footage backstage at the shows, but felt frustrated that he could not delve into the collaborations more deeply in his seasonal “52 minutes de mode” roundups for France’s TMC channel.
The follow-up interviews he did for the Dior documentary — which was produced by Natacha Morice and edited by Suzy Chatellier — give free rein to this cast of powerful personalities, providing a compelling portrait of sisterhood.
“I usually show up during or after the show, so it’s very rare that I shoot anything afterward,” Prigent told WWD in an interview. “It’s really interesting to take a more calm, collected look at something you feel you’ve already seen.”
He sought to capture the gamut of emotions, from the joyful ‘60s-era nightclub set imagined by Anna Paparatti for the spring 2022 ready-to-wear collection, to the poignant finale of the cruise 2024 show in Mexico City, featuring dresses created with Elina Chauvet that addressed violence against women.
“I feel that even if the chapters have already unfolded, this tapestry has not yet been shown,” he said.
While Chiuri has been criticized by some for playing it safe with commercial collections that helped to turbocharge Dior’s growth, Prigent gradually understood her messaging is anything but conservative.
“I think a lot of people haven’t realized that, which I find a little frustrating. I don’t think we have enough perspective on it,” he said.
For him, the clincher was the fall 2020 show with a set by art collective Claire Fontaine featuring three neon signs suspended from the ceiling flashing the word “consent.” It took place the day after Harvey Weinstein, the film producer who crystallized the #MeToo movement, was convicted in court of rape.
“That’s when it dawned on me that she was educating me and saying things that were important and that I wasn’t aware of,” Prigent said.
The 51-year-old director said that although he was politically active as a young man, he grew up with an incomplete understanding of the feminist movement.
“In France in the ‘80s, it had become something quite negative and insulting that no one identified with. But I feel like the new generation has a totally different perception,” he said. “Feminism is an everyday battle and the word has taken on a totally different connotation.”
Prigent feels that just as founder Christian Dior telegraphed the end of World War II austerity with his New Look, Chiuri is able to reflect the society of her time.
“I’m interested in this notion of brands playing a cultural role — that they can be political. They need to get our attention in order to sell us stuff, but they can also use that to convey very strong messages that go beyond fashion,” he said.
“The brand is so strong and ubiquitous, it has developed such a powerful communication platform, so why not use it to its full potential — both aesthetic and intellectual? In that respect, what Maria Grazia has done is incredible,” Prigent said.
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