See Dior's Ghostly Tribute to the Roman Theater

Elle

2 days ago

An extravagant patroness, a hallowed theater, and a mysterious evening of 'living pictures': these are the spirits that Maria Grazia Chiuri sought to recapture in the Dior cruise 2026 collection and its accompanying short film, Les Fantômes du Cinéma.
To understand these ghostly revivals, we must travel back to the living. The collection was heavily inspired by the life and luxuries of countess Anna Laetitia Pecci, more commonly known as Mimì Pecci-Blunt, who was a dedicated couture client and a lifelong patron of the arts until her death in 1971. Across her salon in Paris and mansion in Rome, Pecci-Blunt often played host to artists including Salvador Dalí, writer Alberto Moravia, composer Henri Sauguet, and more.
In 1958, the countess purchased and guided the Teatro della Cometa in Rome for a single glorious season. While the theater changed hands through the years before falling into obscurity, Dior took it over in 2020, leaving its restoration in Chiuri's hands. Five years later, on the precipice of the venue's reopening, Chiuri took to the Villa Reale di Marlia to reignite Pecci-Blunt's vision through a multifaceted runway presentation. Both the collection and film directly reference one of the countess's glamorous evenings in Paris in 1930—the Bal Blanc, where guests dressed in white, as if transforming into alabaster sculptures, doubling as the venue's 'living pictures' entertainment (as demonstrated by the runway's all-white ensembles and glimmering Roman-inspired trompe l'oeil).
The result is a scene of exceedingly fragile beauty. In ushering these fashionable ghosts into the present, a feeling of temporality remains. For Chiuri, this is by design. The creative director worked closely with the Italian costume house Tirelli to replicate exact pieces from the costumer's archive using period-accurate preserved lace, as seen on the powdered-faced actors flitting through the film. As Chiuri explained on Instagram, one snag on a manicured rose bush and the character's crinoline-laden gown could crumble.
On the runway, the models were visions in white, black, and beige, gliding down the pebbled pathway in billowing sheer skirts, tuxedo jackets, and minimalist column dresses. The collection felt not only like a tribute to Pecci-Blunt's and Tirelli's legacies, but also a nostalgic culmination of nearly a decade's worth of Chiuri's delicate designs. An interesting through-line between womenswear and Dior Men also showed up. Many of the models sported lace masks, another direct reference to the dress code for Bal Blanc that undoubtedly added to the allure and warranted a warm standing ovation. However, it's impossible to not call back to the striking satin masks in Kim Jones's final collection for the brand during the fall 2025 runway season.
Ultimately, Chiuri remains a passionate patron of the arts, dedicated to crafting a sartorial narrative down to the finest details of femininity. Much like Pecci-Blunt's Bal Blanc guests and Tirelli's creations on the silver screen, Chiuri is deft at bringing a character's vision to life.