âMy shoot for
Her Dior was informed by a photographic project I created called
Real Beauty, which focused on rethinking the stereotypical view of what defines beauty. I photographed women in their underwear in my hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa; women from varying social backgrounds and with varying body shapes in a space that was familiar to them. I interviewed each woman to ask her how she personally defined beauty.
âThe [
Her Dior] shoot [similarly] challenges stereotypes. I chose outfits that wouldnât be associated with any specific culture through fabric or style. I also wanted to give the viewer hints of a sense of place by incorporating indigenous flowers from South African artworks Iâd come across on the walls of many houses in townships; mother and child representations for example and the work of Vladimir Tretchikoff. In African culture, more and more women are wearing their hair naturally when previously many more women wore wigs, so I want
Maria Grazia Chiuri’s New Photobook Celebrates Dior’s Feminist Spirit Vogue 3/12/2021 Liam Freeman
“The book represents the kaleidoscope of voices and visions that the house of Dior embodies today,” says Maria Grazia Chiuri of
, published by Rizzoli and out now.
This “living project,” as she describes it, brings together 160 images by groundbreaking women image-makers from around the world who have interpreted Chiuri’s work at Dior and represent a “multitude of ideas on femininity.” While, as Chiuri notes, “many voices are expressed” in the volume among them Nan Goldin, Sarah Moon, Coco Capitán, Katerina Jebb, Zoë Ghertner, Sarah Waiswa, Kristin-Lee Moolman, Jodi Bieber and Bettina Rheims “there are many more ways of understanding, apprehending and living one’s femininity… the naturalness of this conversation is important, [its] point of view is both intimate and open, free of judgment and paternalism.”