Christian Dior was the first major fashion house to stage a traditional ready-to-wear runway show in Paris since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March.
The show headlined the first day of a hybrid-style Paris Fashion Week. A giant “DIOR”-emblazoned white annex in the chic Tuileries Gardens stood against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, hazy in the drizzle.
Guests were unusually relaxed, with some fashion editors commenting that it was because they had not just flown in, exhausted, from a week of covering Milan. Italy had restricted travelers coming from Paris due to the virus. At Dior, many of the Asian and American editors were missing, making this season a largely European affair.
Paris, like Milan, is trying to kick off an unusual fashion season for spring-summer 2021. For nine days, the calendar flits between some 16 in-person, ready-to-wear runway collections, with masked guests, celebrities and editors in seated rows; around 20 in-person presentations; and several dozen completely digital shows streamed online with promotional videos.