Dior in Kyoto: a Fall 2025 show between homage and transmission
Under the cherry blossom trees of Toji temple, Maria Grazia Chiuri reinvents the historic link between Dior and Japan.
On April 15, 2025, Dior chose Kyoto, the spiritual and artisanal cradle of Japan, to present its Fall 2025 women’s collection. A powerful gesture, both a tribute to Christian Dior and an affirmation of the contemporary vision of Maria Grazia Chiuri, who continues to draw on archives and territories of memory to nourish her creation.
At the crossroads of two heritages
It was in the garden of the Toji Buddhist temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, that the silhouettes took to the catwalk as night fell. Beneath the imposing silhouette of a 55-meter pagoda, pieces blending French couture and Japanese savoir-faire unfurled their elegance. These included a kimono in gold jacquard by Tatsumura, modernized by a grosgrain belt, and a belted jacket in moiré silk, a nod to the Bar suit.
A collection without fusion, but in dialogue
Far from seeking an artificial fusion, Chiuri composes a subtle dialogue between Japanese shapes and Western cuts. Kimono-style knitwear wraps the body with suppleness.Origami inspires new lines, like these asymmetrical pants where a piece of fabric is folded over a single leg. Every detail evokes an aesthetic of emptiness and balance, true to the Japanese spirit.
Faithful to Dior’s roots
Christian Dior may never have visited Japan, but his admiration for the country ran deep. As early as the 1950s, he collaborated with craftsmen in Kyoto, imagining hybrid models such as the “Diorpaletot”, a cross between a kimono and a suit. Chiuri extends this history, already begun with shows in New York, Bombay and Edinburgh, by placing Dior in a global context where travel becomes a creative tool.
An invitation to slow down
At a time when brands are scaling back their fashion shows, Dior is asserting another temporality: that of meaning and cultural exchange. This show in Kyoto was not simply a commercial event, but a manifesto of thoughtful, lived-in, embodied fashion. And proof that luxury can still rhyme with transmission.
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