The fashion world is buzzing as Dior unveiled a bold reinterpretation of the classic Alice in Wonderland tale for their 2025 haute couture collection at Paris Fashion Week. Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri tapped into the rebellious spirit of the times, reimagining Alice as a punk princess for the modern era. The result was a visually arresting blend of Victorian-inspired silhouettes with edgy, street-wise details that heralds a new direction for the iconic French fashion house.
Punk Meets Classic Literature on the Runway
Chiuri’s “Punk Alice” wears her girlish white pinafore and striped stockings, but remixed with a haute couture twist. Apron dresses were rendered in delicate lace, paired with towering mohawk headpieces crafted from trembling black silk plumes. Alice’s demure stockings transformed into lace-up gladiator boots climbing up the leg. Frothy skirts were reimagined as sculptural birdcage crinolines, while ribbons knotted choker-tight at the throat for a subversive edge.
“Fashion is a playground for the imagination. And in your imagination, you can create for yourself the world that you want to live in.
– Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior Creative Director
Surrealist Influences and Dior Heritage
Rather than Dior’s signature New Look silhouette with its nipped waist and full skirts, Chiuri looked to a different chapter in the brand’s history. The collection’s babydoll dresses with graphic A-line shapes paid homage to the Trapeze line introduced by a young Yves Saint Laurent during his time at Dior in the late 1950s. Chiuri merged this with inspiration from the surrealist paintings of Dorothea Tanning, whose depictions of Alice feature gravity-defying hair and jellyfish-like tangles of skirts – details that appeared on Dior’s runway.
Responding to a Cultural Vibe Shift
Fashion insiders note that Dior’s latest collection comes amidst a shifting cultural landscape, as the industry grapples with how to reposition itself for the contemporary zeitgeist. Having made its mark over the past decade as a vocal proponent of feminist values and diverse representation, Dior now finds itself in the spotlight as a go-to brand for conservative figures like Melania and Ivanka Trump.
While declining to address politics directly, Chiuri offered fantasy and escapism as an artistic response, transporting the audience at the Musée Rodin to a topsy-turvy Wonderland. The runway’s backdrop featured a whimsical landscape embroidered with curious scenes – leonine figures in feathered headdresses peeking out amidst flora sprouting eyes along with blossoms.
I like the idea of nonsense.
– Maria Grazia Chiuri on her surrealist influences
An Energetic Collection for a House in Transition
The collection arrives at a time of stellar growth for Dior, with revenues estimated to have tripled to €9bn under Chiuri’s leadership since 2016. However, with Chanel presenting a buzzy collection under their new designer and rumors swirling about a potential shift in creative direction at Dior, all eyes were on how Chiuri would make a statement.
Her “Punk Alice” delivered with an energetic, elegant vision that embraced disorientation and escapism. The collection’s adventurous spirit and masterful craft reaffirmed the vitality of Chiuri’s artistic leadership, while paying tribute to Dior’s heritage of innovation. As the fashion world seeks a new north star in an altered cultural universe, Chiuri charts an unexpected path forward by revisiting and reinventing the past – as only Dior can do.
- Key Elements: Mohawk headpieces, lace babydoll dresses, birdcage crinolines, gladiator boots
- Inspiration: Alice in Wonderland, Dorothea Tanning surrealism, 1950s Dior trapeze line
- Front Row: Pamela Anderson in black polka dot veil, Venus Williams in braided updo
