Merely weeks post-Sanremo, and we’re still thinking about the globally loved social media influencer, Chiara Ferragni. After co-hosting this years Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, it wasn’t her commentary that made a statement, it was her wardrobe – and it’s safe to say that if Italy has an IT girl, it’s Chiara Ferragni!
Dressed in nothing but Dior, Chiara has been styled by Fabio Maria Domato, and draped in the designs of Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, all of which have been made specifically for this contemporary icon. But it seems that this year, her outfits are making noise against the patriarchy. Chiara and Maria have collaborated for this world-loved event to send strong messages about breaking gender stereoptyles, and in tandem, promoting women’s rights.
There were eight looks that Chiara fashioned on stage – The Shameless Dress, The Hate Dress, The Cage, The Manifesto Dress, The Dress of Human Rights, Body Painting and The Masculine Feminine.
Chiara has made sure to share each of the dresses on her Instagram, reaching more than five million people (including us!).
Accompanied by the posts, however, is what we are loving. The caption of each post features a written statement from the social media star, explaining the message behind each of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s designs. Here’s what they said (in English because our Italian’s not too sharp):
The Shameless Dress
“The objective behind this look is to shed light on the rights that concern women and their bodies. And on how the disposal of the female body by the very same women is, unfortunately still discussed and even considered questionable. […] The nude color dress, which was realized in Dior’s haute couture atelier, uses a trompe l’oiel embroidery to reproduce Chiara Ferragni’s body freed from the shame that has always been imposed on women, starting with Eve, the first woman in history persuaded to feel shame.
“The illusion of nudity aims to remind women of the right they have to show and handle themselves without feeling judged or guilty. […] This is the body of a woman, the body of Chiara Ferragni, would like to give voice to all the women who are told that their body is shameful and that it’s nothing more than an object of desire that incites sin. This is the body of all women. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!”
The Hate Dress
“With this peplum dress, we bring on the stage of the Ariston theater some of the criticisms addressed at Chiara regarding her appearance, her body and, above all, her freedom of feeling a woman other than a mother. The sentences of disdain embroided with black pearls are the true insults that every day haters direct at the photos she posts on Instagram. Maria Grazia Chiuri had the idea of embroidering these words black on a white peplos as if the dress was the page of a book that narrates the fruitless disdain against which we need to fight every single day.”
The Manifesto Dress
“When we started to think about the dresses for the two evenings of San Remo, we immediately realized that we didn’t want gowns that were simply eccentric or pretentiously beautiful. We felt the need to bring on to the most popular stage of Italy a social message, even through fashion. The manifesto dress that kick starts the 73rd edition of the Fesitval di Sanremo is the product of a conversation between Maria Grazia, creative director of Dior, Rachele Regini and Fulvia Carnevale, of the artistic duo Claire Fontaine. The result is a black silk corolla dress inspired by Dior’s tradition that is integrated with the manifesto-stole embroided with the claim ‘Pensati libera,’ which translates to ‘Think yourself free.’ The simple yet so strong words come from the work of Claire Fontaine and we hope they can inspire all women to feel free to break out of the role that was imposed on them by society. The words represent a realization of Chiara Ferragni, who fights to not be boxed into a space defined for her by the patriachy, and a promise that she makes to herself every day while she fights to not feel guilty for her success as a woman. ‘Pensati libera’ is dedicated to all the women who wish simply to be themselves without being judged.”
The Cage
“Freeing the new generations from the gender stereotypes in which women often feel caged is the idea that Maria Grazia Chiuri wanted to represent with this haute couture Dio dress, which consists of a jersey jumpsuit embroided with rhinestones, trapped in a tulle skirt that takes inspiration from the work of Jana Sterbak. This gown represents the hope to break the conventions imposed by the patriarchy. A hope that we place in today’s young girls who will be the women of tomorrow. This is the wish that a mom makes to her daughter: that she can finally shout out Vittoria!
The Dress of Human Rights
“A long black velvet dress decorated by a uterus-shaped necklace composed of different sections of a woman’s body is the symbol of the reproductive rights activism that we bring to @schiaparelli The dress and the jewelry designed specifically by @danielroseberry for @sanremorai. remind everyone that rights to reproduce is a human right. Because access to safe abortion and assisted procreation is a human rights issue that we must not waive. Why every human being, man or woman, should be able to make decisions freely about their own body. Let us not allow the fights won by our mothers to be fought by our daughters too.”
Body painting
“The golden imprint of a woman’s body printed on the blue of a collar dress. The audacity of that artistic and scandalous gesture of the artist Yves Klein inspired the look of the ss 2023 of @schiaparelli which according to @danielroseberry was the perfect summary of our Sanremese project. In the work of the French artist, the bodies of women were freed from their mannequin immobility and called to print their shapes independently on large white canvases to be painted in blue. Free your body and do what you want with it because the woman’s body is the ultimate masterpiece of creation.”
The Masculine Feminine
“Many believe that in order to be taken seriously in certain areas a woman must assume masculine behavior or dress like a man to demonstrate leadership ability. The black velvet trouser dress, interrupted by a corset with pearl embroidery in the shape of abdomen, wants to be a caricature of this sexist stereotype. A message to the men who still believe in the narrative of “showing vour muscles” to be called respectable women. Don’t give up on vour femininity just because it’s considered a weakness point by someone because that’s where women’s strength lies.”
Go behind the scenes with Chiara Ferragni as she tries on the four Haute Couture gowns designed for her by Maria Grazia Chiuri in this exclusive video.
Subscribe below so we can serve you the latest in fashion, beauty, lifestyle and culture!
Until we meet again, Ciao Bella xo