When Maria Grazia Chiuri showcased her 2025 Dior Cruise Show [IG] in Scotland last June, she held court in the well-manicured and splendid gardens of Drummond Castle.

Chiuri’s resort collection intertwined the history of the house of Dior with the romantic, often dramatic, and war-loving history of Scotland to maximum effect.

Dior’s 2025 cruise collection now comes to life in a new ad campaign lensed by Brigitte Niedermair [IG]. Models include Ali Dansky, Jiali Zhao, Sanija Dalecka and Tanya Churbanova, styled by Elin Svahn. Ryan Chappell provides choreography with Alice Schillaci as director./ Hair by Eugene Souleiman; makeup by Peter Philips

Scotland and the Geopolitics of Fabrics

“Scotland is an important reference in the fashion world,” Chiuri said at a preview the day before the show, “and I wanted to interpret it in a different way. For my generation, it’s so associated with punk, but there is another way to go into it, and that’s through the textiles. In fashion we concentrate so much on shape: But textiles are a big part of our job—what you can do with them, and the changes you can make through them.”

Fashion writers rarely speak of the “geopolitics” of fabrics” but such a contemporary concept is deeply embedded in Dior’s design vision under Chiuri. Most male designers are focused on imprinting their own signature on luxury brands invented by famous, talented designers who have long-passed.

Chiuri has admitted countless times that her focus is marrying talented artisans working today with the values and personal fashion preferences of Dior clients who honor craftsmanship. Paying clients of Dior — as opposed to gaggles of naysaying fashion observers — look forward to our next global adventure and cultural exposure event in a Dior show.

Tartans and cashmeres, tweeds and Argyles — they all have a story to tell in Chiuri’s 2025 Dior Resort campaign. Mary Stuart [aka Mary Queen of Scots] expressed political commentary through her embroideries, employed now by Chiuri in defiant punk beauty.

Chiuri chose to collaborate with local designers and artisans with tweeds and cashmere from Johnstons of Elgin; knitwear from Esk Cashmere; ceremonial headwear by Robert Mackie; Samantha McCoach of Le Kilt and Harris tweed. Unlike most designers, Chiuri actually traveled to the Outer Hebrides in a freezing, wind-lashed, sleet-storm to meet the weavers who make Harris tweed from their homes.

To make matters worse with fashion’s anti-Chiuri brigade, Dior under her embraces the importance of women’s history and accomplishments, past and present. Dior customers adore this fashion menu in their clothes, taking pleasure and positive sentiment from Chiuri’s efforts.

Bernard Arnault Bets on Craftsmanship

Chiuri’s business goals and design vision for Dior are in perfect alignment with Bernard Arnault’s very public statements published by WWD with a headline “Bernard Arnault Bets on Craftsmanship to Help LVMH Ride Out the Luxury Downturn.”

In the nine months of 2024, the LVMH Fashion & Leather Goods division reported a -3% decrease, with an organic -1% 9-mos decrease. LVMH does not release revenue specifics by brand, but ironically the October press release leads citing Christian Dior’s creative momentum “fusing heritage and modernity, as seen in its new Miss Dior line.”

Yes. The show that made the fashion mafia vomit.

Anne apologizes, but this callout is hysterically funny. But the anti-Chiuri moaning and groaning design mafia doesn’t read business financials. Profit and loss statements are of little interest to them.

It means everything to AOC’s focus. Are they making money or not? Is there a match between design vision and revenue? Is this a temporary slump or the wrong designer for this brand’s customer base?

Tim Blanks wrote in February 2024 for BOF:

“Instead, there’s something banal about her [Chiuri’s] designs, a sort of “everyday-ness”, maybe even the kind that Matthieu Blazy was talking about after his Bottega Veneta show in Milan on Saturday. Except he wanted to monumentalise his as a gesture of defiance, while she just keeps hers on an even keel of distinct ordinariness. But here’s where it gets a little weird. It’s Chiuri’s banality that is defiant. Like a force of nature, it is relentlessly, completely convincing, to the point where resistance is clearly futile. If her corporate paymasters are to be believed, her clothes are consummate ker-ching.”

Not for the first time, Tim Blanks “gets it”, understanding that most successful women long ago stopped being defined by the clothes on our backs. We want superb quality, product integrity, a modern vibe, human stories and humanist values embedded in our clothes.

Those values tend to be democratic.

As for Blank’s comment about Dior’s financial performance, we concur. AOC wrote in October 2023, commenting on Dior’s ‘Plan de Paris’ Chirui Collection:

Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri is simply the best of the luxury brand story tellers. On Monday, the creative director was profiled in WWD with that rare breakdown of financial information for a LVMH brand. I knew Dior has done very well, but not that Chiuri has tripled the Dior business in less than seven years. That’s extraordinary.

Will American Women’s Rights Escape the Guillotine?

AOC admits that even I thought perhaps Chiuri had gone a bit simplistic with the Miss Dior New York collection. And when I saw the stars & stripes tracksuit in the pre-fall collection, I said to myself ‘OMG’.

On August 20, our commentary was:

AOC considers Maria Grazia Chiuri to have platinum grade design and merchandising instincts. But even Anne thought Dior’s stars and stripes ‘tracksuit’ was Chiuri’s rare flat tire, with its unabashed celebration of stars and stripes Americana. We considered it a marketing piece.
After watching night one of the Democratic Convention in Chicago on Monday, I was probably dead-wrong. More tears and overt displays of Democratic, Independent and anti-MAGA Republican patriotism were on display last night, than America has seen in years.

The thought of another Trump USA presidency sends shudders throughout most of the western world. The days since the Democratic Convention have been an emotional roller coaster.

While the fashion-buzz killers are worried about finding the right promotions for talented male designers — including displacing Chiuri at Dior — this American has witnessed a brutal American election reeking of misogyny and racism.

Anne of Carversville has high hopes that we are about to elect Kamala Harris as America’s first female president, sending cheers around the world.

We American democracy lovers have pulled together an incredible coalition with Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney lobbying together to save America from Christian nationalism and autocracy.

Yesterday Trump imagined publicly executing Cheney with nine rifles pointed at her face. He wants to kill most of us troublemakers, who oppose him.

We have university-degree white men in the Harris column — unless everyone is lying about their votes—suggesting that the House of Dior is sitting in a perfect place for the American market among people with money.

Both sides are claiming a Tuesday victory, but Dems remain much more humble about it. The actual data — which I’ve been exposed to in great detail — looks uber-promising for Dems. If so, we will move American white women in total over 50% for Harris.

The narratives about how deeply LVMH brands are woven into the American experience has been told for years at Anne of Carversville. France has deep roots in the American history and LVMH is known to admire American moxie and optimism, especially in California.

It’s best to say little right now, with the race reaching an end on Tuesday. America’s true identity is on the line and there will be no places for us to run and hide from the truth of who we are as a nation. See you on the other side with my thoughts. ~ Anne

Keep reading . . .

Trust Me: Chiuri and Harris Are Soul Sisters

A blockbuster poll on Iowa came out last night, and it’s turned everything inside out regarding assumptions about this race.

The most influential pollster in America J. Ann Selzer has put Harris in the lead 3% in Iowa — her home state. Iowa is as red as cardinals’ hats — and Selzer knows the terrain.

Relevant to our convo, the gender gap between women and men seniors is a plus with both genders for Harris. But, the women are 65% Harris and only 24% for Trump. Many of these older white women were Republicans going into this race. And they are off their couches, I assure you.

Don’t Mess With Powerful Women

Kamala Harris just celebrated her 60th birthday. Maria Grazia Chiuri is the same age: 60.

Now Christian Dior doesn’t sell many customers in Iowa. What if Texas delivers a similar gender gap in a state that Trump will win? What if age 60+ women support Harris in Texas? What if 40+ women support Harris in Texas — covering the large majority of Dior customers in Dallas, Houston and Austin?

Anne is on a team working around the clock to take out Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas. How do you think they would react to hearing that Dior dumped Chiuri for a younger man?

Not well, I assure you.

To be clear, I can see Chiuri taking another corporate assignment at LVMH connected to global artisans and sourcing. But the idea that the current brand vision at Christian Dior — she with spectacular financial performance — is going to get dumped for some young stud muffin is crazy. In the middle of a luxury turndown. In a state where Neiman Marcus is playing for blood in the luxury market w/o LVMH brands except for accessories. Anne has spoken.

Update: I am so deeply involved in this election I did not know Kamala Harris wore a Dior pantsuit to the September presidential debate. There is no time.