Woman

Thanks, It’s Dior

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2021

instyle– When Maria Grazia Chiuri was hired away from Valentino in 2016 to give Christian Dior a shot of relatability, there was much made of her being the first woman to lead the heritage Parisian couture house. It was good for the press release, but five years into her tenure, we’re seeing what’s become of it.

Of course, Chiuri’s plan all along was to sell. And clothing sales, often the lowest-performing category at a luxury house after perfume or makeup or accessories, have soared under her watch, eclipsing fragrance for the first time in 2019. “I’m so obsessed with her suits; I want to live in them,” says actress Zoey Deutch (photographed below), echoing the sentiment of her shootmates — all of them true believers in Chiuri’s grounded, wearable, accessible Dior. Chiuri had a more ambitious agenda than the bottom line, though. She wanted to turn LVMH’s leading brand behemoth into a feminist messaging machine.

She hasn’t exactly been stealthy about it. From that first spring 2017 show, led by boyish, buzz-shorn model Ruth Bell, Chiuri leaned into comfort over sex. The iconic Bar jacket lost its corsetry and loosened up. Models walk her runways in flat sandals, stompable boots, and kitten heels.

Chiuri’s accessories are usable and sporty as well as things of beauty with design bells and whistles. The Book Tote, a simple square shopper, is one of her favorite pieces, and this season it’s entirely embroidered. For those who prefer to simply read in black-and-white, there is the T-shirt. In that initial collection, it was emblazoned with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s mantra, “We Should All Be Feminists” — a manifesto that went immediately viral. To this day, it hasn’t stopped circulating. (A recent sighting was on Penélope Cruz in Pedro Almodóvar’s latest Oscar bait, Parallel Mothers.)

Chiuri had to fight for that shirt, an unusually direct statement for a high-fashion runway. “Our CEO at the time didn’t want to sell it,” she says. “He said, ‘Dior is not a T-shirt company. We are a couture company!’ I said, ‘Yes, but a T-shirt is a contemporary piece of the wardrobe. And I use a T-shirt because if you want to send a message, you can’t write on top of a jacket — it’s not believable.’ It was not an easy discussion. I had to convince him to do a small run and give the money to charity. We produced a tiny amount. Most of those T-shirts you see around the world now are fake!”

But they still keep coming down the runway, one for almost every show, highlighting the work of other women Chiuri wants to echo, including 1970s Italian feminist and art critic Carla Lonzi (“I Say I”) and author Robin Morgan (“Sisterhood Is Global”). There have been collaborations with art legends like Judy Chicago (2020’s spring couture), Claire Fontaine (her neon signs blared anti-patriarchy slogans at the fall 2020 ready-to-wear show), and choreographer Sharon Eyal.

For Cruise 2022, pieces from which are photographed here, Chiuri hired illustrator Christiana Soulou to sketch sporting women into a delicate print. Athletics was a theme of the season, and the overall inspiration was Greece, both ancient and modern, as well as the first whisperings of (what turned out to be temporary) deconfinement. Toga dresses abounded with a nod to the radically reconstructive work of the feminist anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, author of The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe.

If the suits have been disturbed by the faint odor of burning bras, they can’t pretend Chiuri didn’t warn them. “I said in my first interview for Dior that my idea was a feminist idea,” she says. “I think femininity can be a trap. What interests me is community work in fashion.” That means not only top-line collaborations but frequently seeking out female-led ateliers all over the world when her collections incorporate different traditions of handicraft. Because if you’re going to sell right-on slogans to women willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a T-shirt, supporting less fortunate makers in the process should be part of the deal.

Chiuri was a client from Day 1 of the Chanakya Atelier in Mumbai, whose artisans she most recently hired to hand-stitch, using 150 different embroidery techniques, tapestries based on a drawing by artist Eva Jospin for the fall/winter 2021–2022 haute couture show. In turn, the atelier, in conjunction with its School of Craft, offers training to low-income women looking to rise to master artisan status, normally a man’s position.

But there have been stumbles. In choosing diverse references for her collections, Chiuri has been criticized for appropriating different cultures. An ad featuring the very caucasian Jennifer Lawrence in a collection clearly inspired by Mexican design was pilloried on social media. In 2019 Chiuri responded by enlisting her daughter, Rachele Regini, who has degrees from Goldsmiths, University of London in art history and gender studies, to head up a cultural brain trust for Chiuri and her design team. They’ve done three sessions so far to get more savvy on the expectations of a broader customer base and the importance of sustainability. It doesn’t come as second nature, Chiuri admits.

She nixes propositions from her team all the time that don’t pass the real-world smell test and has hired slightly more realistic Italian size 40 fit models. “Some young designers still dream on these incredibly skinny models,” she says. “It can be very difficult to change the stereotype. I have to say, ‘Please, this arm is not believable! It won’t fit anybody!’ ”

Chiuri is intent on building the brand for women with something to say, and those women are responding in kind. “Maria Grazia has reimagined the conversation between femininity and masculinity and how it is explored through fashion,” says actress Jurnee Smollett, who, before this shoot, last wore Dior at the Emmy Awards, where she was up for her role in Lovecraft Country. “It was my first time being nominated and the first time wearing Dior Haute Couture. It was a classic design, but in Maria Grazia’s hands it became unique and innovative. I was floored by the intricate details and felt like a goddess in it.”

Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has been a big supporter since Chiuri’s first day at the house, never missing a show. “She was given an incredible platform at Dior, and she owned it as a designer, but she uses it to celebrate in the name of all women around the world,” Vodianova says.

This has been the biggest payoff for Chiuri at a 9-to-8 job where weekends are frequently burned on planes visiting factories and far-flung ateliers. “I’m very linked with women in general,” she says. “I really think that I have to work in a way that I can give service to the women around the world, so that when they come to us, they can find something to help them feel well. That when they wear our jacket, they feel well. That when they wear our shoes, they walk well. It’s beauty too. I don’t like that to be beautiful, you have to be uncomfortable. I think it’s so ridiculous. This is the secret, very simple: I don’t want to wear something that I feel does not empower me.”

Critics have not always been kind about Chiuri’s vision, though it wouldn’t be the first time that fashion’s professional opinionators have completely missed a juggernaut. Pragmatism is hard to get rhapsodic about in column inches, even if it’s the animating spirit for Chiuri. She believes it was the same for the house’s namesake, who favored corsets and petticoats. “If you read The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Mr. Dior, you would see he was very practical,” Chiuri says. “You have to choose a bag that’s black, you have to choose shoes that are black, that can work for day and evening. Also his color palette. It’s gray, black, blue.” Not to put too fine a point on it, though: Chiuri’s most recent show was an homage to the mod 1960s, with acid-bright colorblocking and miniskirt suits. Even studious nerdy girls like to swing.

Chiuri herself works hard not to take the gig so dead seriously. “When a designer arrives at a house like Dior with this huge history, it can be heavy. But I come from Rome. I arrived here at 52, with a long career and big experience. And so, it’s very interesting for me to look at the reference, to transform, to give it a completely new sense. I like fashion; it’s a territory where you can play. It’s like a game.”

Lead Image: Jurnee Smollett. All clothing and accessories, worn throughout, Dior. Photography by Trisha Ward. Styling by Konca Aykan. Hair by Nai’vashsa/The Wall Group. Makeup by Vincent Oquendo/The Wall Group. Production by Octopix.

For more stories like this, pick up the December/January issue of InStyle, available on newsstands, on Amazon, and for digital download Nov. 19th.

Woman

The 5 new and best anti-wrinkle creams of 2023

Published

2 months ago

January 23, 2023

Europe Disk

There is a positive factor in the inexorable passage of time, the progression of scientific and cosmetic research. A factor that leads, year after year, to the formulation of increasingly effective and delicate anti-wrinkle and anti-aging creams for the skin of the face. 2023 brings with it a host of new treatments for you to try. Changing cream is a stimulus for the skin, destined to approach new active ingredients and new formulation stimulations.

The new anti-aging creams to try for 2023 combine ceramides – lipids naturally present in the skin – of vegetable extraction, extracts of rare and precious truffles and ancient Japanese remedies. The winter season immediately offers specific treatments which, while preventing aging, defend the skin from external aggressions, typical of the period, protecting it from the cold.

THE IDEAL ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM FOR WINTER

N°1 de Chanel Creme Riche Revitalisante by Chanel is the ideal cream to be able to carry on an anti-aging beauty routine during winter. The House’s new treatment has borrowed the red camellia’s great staying power and resilience. This new anti-aging cream, enriched with camellia ceramides, extracted using a 100% natural method, protects the skin from external aggressions. While revitalizing cellular activity. Its formula is ninety-four percent natural in origin and has been tested, in real conditions, by a group of women in Canada.

THE ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM THAT INCREASES CELLULAR ENERGY

Estée Lauder captures the essence and power of the rarest and most prized truffle, the Black Diamond Truffle, found in the southwestern region of France. With her exclusive extract, she fills the heart with the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond skincare collection and especially the formula of the latest treatment born Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Sculpted Transformation Cream. Every drop of the exclusive truffle extract is the result of almost ten thousand hours of production. The skin benefits are significant and are generated by an increase in the skin’s cellular energy levels.

THE ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM INSPIRED BY ANCIENT JAPANESE REMEDIES

Daughter of the Aman luxury resorts, Aman Essentials is the new skincare line formulated entirely in Japan. Composed of five treatments, it supports the skin every day, defends its barrier, encourages deep hydration and offers help against stressful factors. Radiance Face Cream is a rich face cream that promotes skin radiance. Inside, an oil extracted from camellia seeds, a beauty ingredient used for over a thousand years by Japanese women and an oil extracted from macadamia nut.

THE ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM THAT PROTECTS AGAINST THE EXPOSOME

The revitalizing face cream, AgeFactor Cream by Rhea Cosmetics has a single action to protect against exposome. In other words, the whole set of environmental exposures smog, UV rays, stress and nutrition which can accelerate skin aging. Its formula is made up of a pool of active ingredients that work to counteract the appearance of age-related imperfections, forehead wrinkles, expression lines, nasolabial folds and periocular wrinkles.

THE ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM THAT NEUTRALIZES GLYCATION

The new Dermosthétique line from La Biosthetique, enriched with AGE3 Age Reversal Technology, is able to exert a scientifically proven impact on the skin’s regenerative processes. Age Reversing Day Cream has a biomimetic formula that blends with the hydrolipidic film of the epidermis. While it strengthens it, it supplies it with important nutrients and lipids. Its extracts of red sage, tiger grass, rosemary and rice neutralize free radicals and eliminate glycation, responsible for the appearance of signs of ageing.

This article was originally published on Harper’s Bazaar Italy

Woman

Lip make-up: Tricks to enhance a metal lipstick

Published

3 months ago

January 9, 2023

Europe Disk

Healthy complexion, deep but natural look, slightly dewy cheekbones and lips. This is the look for the spring summer 2023 make-up that comes directly from the fashion shows. A perfect mood to start experimenting at this beginning of the year to shine on Saturday evening and at every social event. We have seen it on the catwalks of the Japanese brand Ujoh and the sustainable fashion brand Botter. In the center, in both cases, lipsticks in bright colors, from orange to lilac, rigorously metallic. Complete with a contrasting lip contour pencil for a totally new lip art, made up of broken lines and metallic explosions.
Ultra violet + ruby red, Holographic blue + brick, Bronze + fuchsia, make way for the imagination in color combinations, of course, but also in the design of the lips that everything can be anything but precise. With outlines over the line or even broken in half.

How to wear makeup on Saturday night: lips are metallic
For spring, the lips with a very bright semi-transparent effect are back in vogue, in an irrepressible way. The desire to see them more and more fleshy and luminescent will increase with the arrival of the first heat. Even the companies that still offer the mat now do it in a less exasperated way.

Guerlain, for example, has found the right compromise. The lipsticks of its Rouge G Luxurious Velvet Metal line combine a velvety effect with a bold metallic finish. It’s the new matte metal trend, inspired by the play of reflections generated by the flutter of butterflies’ wings. “With their captivating colors, these insects offer a magical show”, says Violette, Guerlain make up creative director, who admits “I’ve always dreamed of being able to reproduce these glitters on my lips”.

Contrasting matte lip pencil for creative strokes
With a lipstick as important as the metallic one, the lip contour pencil should be as neutral as possible, in a natural, even transparent shade. But no! This spring, ultra-matte finishes and contrasting colors win, even as bright as fuchsia. To put on make-up on Saturday night, therefore let your imagination run wild.
As for the line, the trend of over-the-line lips continues, appearing larger and plumper without the need to resort to touch-ups from an aesthetic doctor. But this diktat is accompanied by another one, that of the lip art which highlights only a part of the outline. It can be the upper one or vice versa lower. Sometimes the line is even broken midway through the cupid’s bow. A perfect technique for those who don’t want to go unnoticed and already have plump lips.

Pay attention to the texture of the pencil which must be strictly long-lasting and non-transfer so as not to ruin the work of art. Outline Waterproof Lip Pencil by Astra Make-Up, for example, is ultra-resistant but not dry, its formula, enriched with hyaluronic acid and ceramides, helps the lip mucosa retain hydration for a comfort effect that lasts all day.

Woman

Pixie Cut: Ideas for wearing short hair during 2023

Published

3 months ago

January 9, 2023

Europe Disk

The Pixie Cut was born to be a symbol of rebellion and, in a sense, it is also a trend in 2023. A light, cheeky and fun short haircut that rejects traditional aesthetic conventions. In the 1920s and then in the 1950s, in fact, the Pixie cut was the tomboyish look to show off as an alternative to long hair.

A shortcut with an androgynous charm which, also for 2023, refers to icons of the past, which have made the Pixie Cut timeless, such as Audrey Hepburn, Twiggy, Mia Farrow, and Sharon Stone. Without giving up a touch of novelty. The classic silhouette of a haircut like the Pixie is transformed in 2023 and conquers the stars of the moment.

Pixie Cut is very short and feminine but capable of conquering even with its androgynous soul. The classic short garçonne cut for 2023 is further shortened, revealing all the beauty of a micro fringe or lengths so mini that they almost completely vanish. The most interesting element of the short Pixie Cut is the innate elegance of this cut. To be worn straight or curly, it is the right idea to give 2023 hair a futuristic, almost alien allure.

Mixie and Bixie are the hybrid short cuts of 2023
Mixie cut blends the silhouette of the mullet with the typical lengths of the Pixie cut. A balance to be maintained through a skillful game of scaling.

On the other hand, the union between bob and Pixie Cut is the basis of another great hair trend for the season, in this the short hair lengthens slightly, almost as if to reach the typical lengths of the bob. A soft cut that wraps around the face and frames it lightly.

Pixie Cut 2023 medium and long
Forget dramatic shaves and sharp layers, the Pixie Cut 2023 is a homogeneous cut. A game of volumes and movements, which lengthens the strands of the cut to obtain a soft and texturized effect. A silhouette that seems to conform to that of the bowl cut thanks to its roundness, without actually being so. A fundamental element is a fringe. Full coverage on the forehead, it softens according to the natural texture of the hair. The medium-long Pixie Cut is perfect also, accompanied by a side tuft. The effect is elegant and refined, but also extremely sensual.

This article was originally published on AMICA