Dior to stage first catwalk show in South Korea this month

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Apr 8, 2022

Christian Dior will stage its first ever runway show in South Korea, with a catwalk event in Seoul on April 30.

 
Dior will present its pre-fall 2022 collection. It had previously been shown to senior fashion editors by appointment in Paris last December.
 
The LVMH-owned French luxury house will stage its runway show at Ewha Womans University, linking the house’s heritage with one of the world’s most vibrant cities and a highly prestigious university.

“This year, the House is forging new powerful ties with the Republic of Korea. From our partnership with Ewha Womans University – as part of our Women@Dior program highlighting transmission, education and sisterhood – to the Dior Fall 2022 show in Seoul, we are more committed than ever to celebrating creative dialogues and cultural plurality,” said Pietro Beccari, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture. 
 
Launched in 2017, Women@Dior is a mentoring and education program for students supported by the storied French brand.
 
Originally presented privately in Paris, this Dior pre-fall 2022 collection features posh-punks and urban gardeners in a frankly feminist though patently feminine display, whose key inspiration was the founder of the house’s kid sister Catherine. 

A courageous WW2 resistance member; muse of big brother Christian and expert florist, Catherine outlived Christian by nearly half a century, growing old and growing roses in Les Naÿssè, a tiny family farm in Provence. Land that still supplies ingredients to Miss Dior, the scent Christian named after her.

The result is a collection that draws inspiration from the Provencal soil, with peasant dresses, gardening aprons and even a new tote inspired by the jute bags in which the designer discovered that the family business once used to pack compost. On which designer Maria Grazia Chiuri emblazoned a new heraldic motif, and motto that reads "L’Union fait la force".
 
With a luxury market estimated at over $14 billion, South Korea is a key international destination for high-end fashion houses, especially Dior.
 
Last year, Dior named South Korean singer Jisoo of Blackpink as its new global ambassador for both fashion and beauty. A partnership that helped attract 140 million views online to Dior’s life stream during last month’s Paris Fashion Week.
 
While Dior’s cousin brands in LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany, have also respectively named Korean stars BTS and Blackpink’s Rosé as brand ambassadors.