Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri undertook a baptismal immersion in the traditions, crafts, histories, and female heroes of Andulasia, before hosting June’s Christian Dior Resort 2023 show in this region of southern Spain.

“I really love the area,” Chiuri explained. “You feel that tradition is really alive here. I recognize a lot of myself in this Mediterranean idea of women. I’ve felt a strong link and connection.” Since her Dior appointment in July 2016, the designer has delved deeply into the lives of women and our history, as a signature creativity zone for her collections.

For the 2023 Resort collection, Chiuri payed homage to Carmen Amaya, who was the first female flamenco dancer to wear men’s clothes, in the 1950s. Born in Barcelona, with Spanish Romani heritage, she was called ‘La Capitana’. Amaya’s husband Juan Antonio Aquero was also her guitarist.

Harper’s Bazaar Brazil’s August 2922 issue tributes Dior’s Resort 2023 Collection. Model Allana Santos Brito fronts the cover story styled by Paris-based Raphaël Nicolas De Castro. Photographer Stéphanie Volpato [IG] captures Brito at the Bergerie Nationale in Rambouillet, France.

Whether funded by Dior or not, AOC is intrigued with this gorgeous and sensual editorial in Harper’s Bazaar Brazil’s August 2022 issue. We always feel the push and pull of feminism and women’s history in today’s Christion Dior’s collections.

In this American moment where the demanding dominance of the Catholic Church in our political affairs is greatly on our minds, these images prompt me to reflect for a moment on the first arrival of the Catholic Church in modern-day Brazil.

In 1549, Portuguese King King João III sent the first Jesuit mission to Brazil, in the region of today’s Bahia. AOC’s own ties to the region are strong, with one totally profound experience touching the intersection of the Catholic Church and slave ships in Bahia — and the reality of sensuality as expressed in this fashion story lensed by Stéphanie Volpato.