Fashion house Dior unveiled its 2022 Cruise collection on Thursday, June 17 at a star-studded fashion show at the Athens Panathenaic Stadium, aka the Kalimarmaro.
Cruise, according to Town & Country editor Stellene Volandes, “began as a season connected to the jet setting life the name implies-clothes for far flung vacations. Now it has become an important expression for designers between the Fall and Spring ready-to-wear collections and many believe it is among the most important as it stays in retails stores the longest. I always look forward to it as a season where designers can express their creative vision free from the pressures of a traditional season.”
The decision to showcase Greece and take the country’s history and heritage as inspiration came from Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri and her desire to emphasize the role of women in history. And Greece proved to be her ideal inspiration.
According to Volandes, seeing a house with the prestige and prominence like Dior evoked a sense of pride. “When I heard Dior was showing their cruise collection in Athens, my first instinct was to get on a plane and be there. My overwhelming emotion was pride. I didn’t get there to sit in the stadium but as I watched from New York, I could not have been prouder,” Volandes told The Pappas Post.
The icing on the cake, according to Volandes, a “Made in Greece” label on a Dior jacket.
“I was especially happy to see the Greek traditions of fabric weaving and the artisanal heritage of the country reflected so sensitively in the collection. And to see a Dior jacket with a label that says Made in Greece– how wonderful was that?”