It’s somewhat fitting that the Rugby World Cup fan zone is set up at Place de la Concorde, just outside of the tent where Dior held its show, as getting through the crowds to the venue was a full contact sport and inside was a celebrity scrum.
Outside, fans were there for Blackpink’s Jisoo, mostly, plus dozens chanting “We want Apo, we want Mile,” for Thai acting duo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat and Phakphum Romsaithong. Probably plenty were there just to take in the atmosphere and make TikToks.
Inside the Tuileries tent, invited guests were equally as frenzied trying to film the front row that was stacked full of Hollywood MVPs including Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jenna Ortega and Robert Pattinson. A wall of rugby player-sized guards held the line.
Somehow, Elizabeth Debicki radiated calm above all the commotion. Her secret? “I wish I had the answer. If I did I would be sharing it,” she said. “Mostly that I wait because I never remember my invitation, though today I really wish I had it and could find my seat.”
She’s a regular at Dior and a fan of women’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s work. “They’re a really beautiful brand to work with. I feel very supported by them in my career, which is really a kind of gorgeous thing as an actor,” she said. The actress added that she has met Jisoo at previous events.
“Whenever I see a sea of humans, I know she’s the one they are following,” she joked.
The chaos continued, while the British contingent stayed to the sidelines. “The Crown” actress Meg Bellamy chatted with “Stranger Things” actor Joseph Quinn. It was Bellamy’s second Dior show, but her PR blocked any questions about what she has been up to. “It’s too sensitive,” he said, citing the actors’ strike.
Yara Shahidi was happy to share that she has been taking time off. “In respect for the strike, I have been sitting down,” she said, referencing the ongoing dual actors’ and writers’ collective actions.
The “Grown-ish” star commented on the powerful messages that crawled across the walls in Barbie pink and electric yellow during the show such as “I am not an empty space between your pages,” and “I am not your doll, I am not your game.”
Shahidi said the messages resonated with her. “I’m never surprised by her statements, it’s just so consistent in terms of her voice. Speaking with her privately and even in her collections, she has always continued to center the power of women in each and every show,” she said.
Shahidi added the news that the Writers Guild of America and studios had reached a tentative agreement to end their 146-day strike was positive.
“I’m excited for the forward movement. I know it’s been an uncomfortable time for so many people who had to put a lot on the line to be able to strike, but it seems like this was all to end up working in an industry that is much better for all of us,” she said.
After the show, things got steamy inside the tent, and “Top Gun: Maverick” star Monica Barbaro was busying herself with checking on the camera team. “Do you guys need to hydrate?” she asked as the temperature heated up.
Barbaro loved the juxtaposition of the clothes with the visuals, which resembled ads from the ’50s that implored women to learn how to iron, or properly hold a man’s tool.
“They’re really wild,” she said. “Maria Grazia is such a phenomenal feminist. She’s a true artist in that she manages to discuss something that people don’t really want to talk about, or people don’t necessarily want to put in the fashion space or a commercial space, and she’s able to still make artistic statements about feminism in a very real way.”
Other messages included “Reverse the mirrors, subvert the rules,” and, perhaps ironically as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chair and chief executive officer — and the richest man in the world — sat front row: “Capitalism won’t take her where she really wants to go.”
Barbaro added that Chiuri deftly balances her feminist messaging through beautiful, classic clothing with an edge. “It’s not adopting from a different gender, it’s not even saying what gender has to be. There’s still a feminine and masculine quality and it’s whatever interpretation that you want to exhibit.”
She added that Dior had sent a tarot reader to her hotel room earlier in the day. All signs pointed to a good show day, she added: “It was like this perfect arc of a story that matched the occasion. It was brilliant.”
