The French luxury brand Dior announced it will present its pre-fall 2024 women’s collection at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on April 15. The sprawling runway show, featuring over 100 looks, “celebrates the meeting of cultures,” according to Dior, between Paris and New York City—two capital cities of art and fashion.
The collection—designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, the artistic director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessories collections—is intended to pay homage to the “unwavering ties forged between Dior and the United States from the very beginning of the house.” A Dior spokesperson confirmed the collection represents “a conversation about freedom that gives shape and substance to whatever each woman chooses to be.”
Dior and the Brooklyn Museum have become chummy of late. After the news broke, museum director Anne Pasternak took to social media to wish the designer a hearty “welcome home!” Dior sponsored the institution’s annual Artists Ball—the museum’s largest fundraiser—in April 2023, honoring the career of artist and activist Carrie Mae Weems, whose body of work includes photographs, text, fabric, mixed media, and installations. Maria Grazia Chiuri co-chaired the event, while the host committee consisted of Marilyn Minter, Judy Chicago, Laurie Simmons, KAWS, and Jesse Krimes, along with Alicia Keys and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, whose own collection will be the subject of an upcoming show, “Giants.” Artist and board member Mickalene Thomas handled the design of the event.
In addition, the Brooklyn Museum hosted “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” from September 2021 to February 2022, following stints at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai. The exhibition chronicled the French couturier’s meteoric rise and the brand’s seven-decade legacy.
Last year, Dior showed its pre-fall collection at the Gateway of India, one of Mumbai’s best-loved landmarks, with the Taj Mahal serving as the backdrop. Harboring a deep affection for India, Chiuri collaborated with Karishma Swali—director of the Chanakya ateliers and the Chanakya School of Craft—on the color palette, motifs, embroideries, mirror work, sequins, and other crafts.