Maria Grazia Fashion Parade Gave a Superficial View on Mexico’s Rich Heritage at Dior Cruise
What the F… Are you serious? Is this the pride of being Mexican? Good Lord! Fashion is not only about clothes, this perspective should be surpassed. It’s about what it communicates, and what it creates with its messages and symbols. The runway designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, inspired by Mexican culture, is problematic on several levels.
But let’s start.
Mexico IS NOT FRIDA KAHLO
Dior, through their official account via YouTube, says that the main figure for this show is Frida Kahlo… Again… God. In which reality are many foreigners stuck to thinking that Mexico is the Day of the Dead, earth colors (mostly grays, browns, black and white: runway colors), Frida Kahlo, the muralists, and all the aura of the 1950s? While we moved from the cowboy with a Mexican hat to the suits of landowners and symbols of the power of the Mexican oligarchy: Mexico is not this.
Many people who live in the country have the services that all the great cities of the world have and the majority are already beyond the simplistic view of national poverty. The rich – for whom these products are intended – are entirely cosmopolitan people. Therefore, the focus on the runway doesn’t make sense.
Although the themes are love and Mexican culture, neither one complements the other. It’s a chaos of ideas, of concepts; this runway doesn’t lead anywhere; no specific point is achieved nor any call of consciousness is made according to the known style of the current Dior designer.
Never Use Social Themes if You Don’t Have Deep Research and Awareness of What’s Happening
We know that Maria Grazia Chiuri has a feminist focus in her work. That’s cool, it’s perfect. I have no major problems with it. On the contrary, I consider it a necessity within the patriarchal context in which we develop.
I am a white heterosexual, middle-class Mexican man. Of course, I have privileges, I’m aware of what this means for me. Thanks to this, I can be writing in English in a medium like this, for a similar audience. For this reason, I wouldn’t start talking about feminism because it’s not my place. And for the same reason, I’m not going to take a position on it.
But what Maria Chiuri did by using the Mexican context is violent, strong, and delicate. Each day men murder thousands of women and to take this without a deep insight is to have little sensitivity. It’s using the clichés of an idea of a country – an idea that is also imprecise and mostly false – as decoration for a grand event.
Putting all your models in the center of the runway presented in hand-embroidered white dresses in red is not a sincere statement. It’s just a show; just a superficial comment and more. It’s to take advantage of the space to say something that we live day by day in Mexico. It doesn’t matter if she lives it or not. That’s not the point. It’s how it’s approached, from where, and what to do with it. A real comment through fashion is reflected in fashion itself. If you’re going to make a statement, do it with your work.
We Don’t Need Falsehood to Fit In
Maria Grazia Chiuri tried to convey her message through her work. She did, but it was a very weak message. Calling your dresses “Run for Your Life”, what is that? What right does a person with such cultural power have to make such comments? And not only this, the designer speaks on behalf of a brand: Dior.
Dior is speaking from a higher privilege than Maria and touches on cultural structures. These cultural structures are how we see ourselves as Mexicans, violence, and gender in our country. Cultural structures that she has no right to touch. Foucault thought well: Power is exercised. It is not theorized, at least in principle.
Even when Chiuri tries to use that power positively, it is superficial, without purposeful content, and without anything really to offer. “With great power comes great responsibility”, Ben told Peter Parker before he understood all the implications of being a superhero. Maria lacked responsibility.
There Are Ways to Use Symbols of Power for Other Visions
Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and their team carry out a punctual critique of the colonial heritage in the history of the West:
Is it still normative, without attacking the economic foundations of our society? Yes, but that’s not the point. The important thing is to make the critique. I may agree or disagree with the ideas and their specific execution, but their proposal is relevant because they are African American people who have reached the economic top and can proudly say, “Culture, what they call ‘low culture,’ as defined by whites, challenges the European views of culture and this is the dominant culture of our present.” There is all the necessary power to make such a statement. They have lived that, but what it’s more important: they are being transparent with their position.
Dior Cruise 2024: The clichés
First of all, we are at the Museum of San Idelfonso. Formerly it was the National School of Mexico where great figures of our country gave classes, debated, lived together, and lived the “Mexican” life. Covered with murals by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, in the video we see a focus on “La Malinche”. She is an ambivalent character in our social imagination. This woman, for many, betrayed her indigenous blood. From her, the first mestizos were born, a significant part of our population: the unwanted children of Old Europe.
A Brief Historical Recount
At the beginning of our mestizo history, only the Spaniards were subjects. The rest were poor Godless creatures —almost animals— who had to be educated and cared for; incompetent. In short, for the Kingdom of Spain, they were the labor force they needed. Thanks to the non-peninsular and Creole classes, the wealth of Europe reached its peak. The Spanish Empire, and then all of Europe, colonized (enslaved is a more precise word) those who were not European.
And why all this? The focus on La Malinche is important. A European company, with a European designer, celebrates what was born of violence. La Malinche, really called Malinalli, did not have many options when siding with the Spaniards. Moreover, the notion of romantic love, which is often attributed to her for “loving Hernán Cortes” as we understand it today, did not exist in those times.
The marriage was arranged. Mallinali was forced to marry him for political reasons. It makes no sense that in a feminist parade about love, the symbolic uses of these elements are overlooked.
Designs Far Away from Mexican Reality
But let’s stop going into what surrounds the cruise and go to the clothes. ”Why do we need to hear about context?”, will say those who do not want to listen to one of many violent realities. This year’s designs revolved around garments that pay homage to Mexico’s textile richness: long skirts contrast with tunics and counterweight garments, and cotton, hemp, and silk laces that presented the symbol of fragility, and the technical character of the textile tradition.
It also had a series of brightly colored dresses, many of which were embroidered with traditional Mexican designs. The dresses were paired with cowboy-style boots, jewelry with details, and embellishments of butterflies meaning resistance. We also saw braided hairstyles inspired, again, by Frida Kahlo, rebozos, and natural makeup.
They also use bold patterns inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art of rebozo weaving. Rebozos are brightly colored shawls that are worn by many indigenous women and some white and Creole Mexicans. The Dior designers used rebozo patterns to create dresses and skirts in multiple ways.
Punto de Cruz: One of Many Elements of Our Dress Heritage
The cultural history of the garments used on the runway does not come from humble origins–as you may think–, quite the contrary. It was the clothing of the indigenous leaders, the landowners, and the chiefs of lands and properties. The false sympathy of the conscious designer it’s as fragile as a shadow theater. Not even in her designs Maria could sincerely commit to what she proposes as ideas.
But for this, she used intricate embroidery inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art of cross-stitch or Punto de Cruz. Punto de Cruz is a type of embroidery that is often used to create decorative items such as tablecloths and pillowcases. The Dior designers took this idea and used Punto de Cruz to create dresses and blouses.
While Grazia worked with Mexican artisans from the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tlacomulco, as well as collaborated with the textile atelier Rocinante, Yolcentle, and Sna Jolobil, the discourse of foreign privilege is still present in these actions. Poor of us who do not have sustainable practices (practices that are carried out by the same mentioned brands) to give their true value to our national work garment tradition.
Invite a non-white national designer, an indigenous woman to do a cruise, to be the star of the night… is this asking too much?
Music Transcends Borders
But there are redeemable things and not everything was terrible. I appreciate that they gave a place to a song like Song Without Fear by Vivir Quintana. That song shakes me, it makes me cry — and I don’t say it rhetorically. For me, that is commitment and it is more of a victory for Vivir Quintana than for what the collection communicates.
I think the only thing that made sense was the music. Between modernity and tradition, the theme of love and patriarchal violence in the ranchero blue sound was strong. Do you know Silvana Estrada? We have another great musician. Take a look:
Making a Statement Is Not Just Done With Good Intentions
In my view, Dior’s 2024 Cruise was a scam. Maria Grazia Chiuri didn’t achieve her real objective of delivering a conscious fashion parade. Maybe it’s the context, maybe is that her cultural power isn’t as strong as I think, or it’s impossible to work for the upper class and be congruent with yourself. This time, it didn’t work. I’m a fan of Grazia and she has delivered great runways and superb collections. I don’t doubt it, but this one was unnatural and insincere with his values and views.
I hope we get more to see her true essence. The way she did it in Met 2019 or her Catherin Dior Collection. Both were amazing jobs. Also, their collections at the 2020 Cruise, 2020-2021 Winter Collection were awesome. But this year, we only got cliches and commonplaces of a rich culture that needs to be rediscovered.
And if you are Mexican and you are reading this: be proud of yourself, of the color of your skin, of the place you have been born. We have many challenges, but when the West loses its power, the ones that were excluded will have to be responsible for the mess and wonders that this heritage brought us.
By Alonso Ruíz
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