The Dior Summer 2025 collection, centered on craftsmanship and the art of creation, is inspired by South African ceramist Hylton Nel. Kim Jones, Dior’s Men’s Artistic Director, continues to evolve craftsmanship by blending luxury and functionality. The collection reinterprets workwear and women’s haute couture archives, emphasizing utility, longevity, and heritage.

Sculptural and practical elements borrow from ceramics in form and finish, merging humble and noble in the tailoring. Functionality shines through haute couture techniques, with Dior ateliers’ exceptional craftsmanship. Rounded volumes in tailoring and outerwear add a sensuous touch. Footwear features traditional clogs, and bags blend canvas with raffia or leather. This collection celebrates global and local craftsmanship, highlighting artisans’ skill and pride.

In the tailoring and outerwear of the Dior Summer 2025 collection, rounded volumes create sensuous cuts. The haute couture inspiration is reimagined this season, sparked by an unreleased 1958 Yves Saint Laurent sketch for a coat, now brought to life and influencing other looks. The scarf collar motif, inspired by Saint Laurent’s “Négatif” from Fall-Winter 1960, is rendered in ceramic through a unique, months-long technique. Knitwear features joyful drawings, prints, and ceramic closures inspired by Hylton Nel’s world.

Accessories blend playfulness and practicality with precision and elegance. Shoes take on traditional workwear forms, like clogs, transformed into boots or closed shoes made from beechwood and calf leather. The iconic Saddle bag remains central, its construction softened with its curves echoed in other pieces.The collection’s materials showcase their nobility in bags with durable canvas accented by raffia or leather. Cloche hats, crafted by Stephen Jones in collaboration with Earth Age, are hand-crocheted by South African artisans and adorned with ceramic beads in Paris, symbolizing a global-local collaboration. The Dior Summer 2025 collection highlights the virtuosity of artisans, embodying values and symbols that unite and inspire.

It is a “place of the soul” much like it was for renowned surrealist artists, including Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Tina Modotti, who captured the essence of Mexico through their art and photography.

The iconic figure of Frida Kahlo continues to serve as a profound connection to Mexican culture, which is celebrated in the heart of the Dior cruise 2024 collection. Frida Kahlo transcended her physical body through her clothing, using it as a representation, proclamation, protest, and affirmation. Like a precious jewel case for a wounded body, her clothes became a cocoon-like sanctuary that concealed a transformed butterfly, depicted through a variety of prints in different shades and forms. Moths also come to life in the collection, inspired by a sketch from the Dior archives by Andrée Brossin de Méré.
Maria Grazia Chiuri found inspiration in photographs of Frida Kahlo challenging traditional gender boundaries, particularly her defiance of femininity by wearing men’s three-piece suits since the age of nineteen. This act symbolized her pursuit of intellectual independence. As a tribute to Frida, suits are incorporated into the collection, juxtaposed with the Tehuana tradition, where full skirts are paired with a traditional tunic called the huipil.

For the new line unveiled in Mexico City, Maria Grazia Chiuri once again collaborated closely with local artisans renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship. The collection showcases their expertise through exquisite embroideries and co-creations, which adorn dresses and shirts, among other garments.

One of the standout pieces in the collection is a pink dress reminiscent of the attire worn by Frida Kahlo in one of her self-portraits. The delicate beauty of fragility is accentuated by the careful selection of cotton, hemp, and silk lace, intricate collar designs that enhance the jersey and black velvet materials, and butterfly-inspired jacquards. Velvet is reimagined in a mesmerizing range of colors on skirts that accentuate the hips through pleating before gracefully opening up like flower petals. The toile de Jouy fabric features butterflies alongside depictions of Mexican flora and fauna, including parrots, monkeys, and strelitzias, reminiscent of the subjects found in Frida Kahlo’s paintings.

The choice of venue for the show, the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, holds deep personal significance for Maria Grazia Chiuri. It is where the iconic Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, studied and crossed paths with her lifelong love and mentor, Diego Rivera. In this meaningful location, there will be a performance by the Mexican feminist artist Elina Chauvet.

Mexico, a country close to Maria Grazia Chiuri’s heart, is beautifully expressed through the emotional variations and vibrant colors of this cruise collection. It embodies a femininity that is shaped by the relationship with the natural environment, striking a harmonious balance between commitment and lightheartedness.