4.3.4. DIOR (01)

‘- « PARIS, janvier 22, 2001 – "Daughter, rouse yourself! Burst your bonds of mind and body!" read a '50s Wonder Woman cartoon strip by William Moulton Marston that was tacked onto John Galliano's inspiration board at Dior. "Marston laid out much of the groundwork for modern feminism," said Galliano, explaining his current obsession with the all-American superheroine.
That obsession led to a visual history of comic-book liberation. "The show opening is about repressed postwar women," he added of the bespectacled, Pleasantville-inspired bookworms who populate the show’s first few exits. "But through the clothes you can see hints of the liberated women they will become." Next came Galliano’s rendition of Eisenhower-era suburbia: martini-marinated ladies lost in giant Empire-waist tulle confections embroidered with Brillo pads, teacups and other household items. (Nutty, to be sure, but the frilly gowns, ordered sans decoration, will make lovely wedding gowns for a resourceful few.)
When dowdy Diana Prince finally becomes Wonder Woman, she does so, according to Galliano, with all the verve of a demented heavy-metal cheerleader, replete with slashed concert gear.
The story concludes with Wonder Woman retiring to her birthplace, Paradise Island, where only women are allowed—and where one can enjoy the sun in ravaged Grecian dresses, ancient bits of fur and dusty Mad Max boots.
True, most socialites won’t want to attend a Metropolitan Opera gala wearing a golden corset and a Lasso of Truth. But couture is as much about creative flights of fancy as it is about the customer—and thankfully, Galliano can always be counted on to deliver something a good deal more entertaining than perfectly cut chiffon. ³⁶³
– By Armand Limnander »’

DIOR (2001) (feminism) (‘50’s Wonder Woman; modern feminism, American superheroine; Visual history of comic-book liberation. Opening; repressed postwar woman,liberated women, nutty, to be sure, when Wonder Woman, verve, concludes wonder Woman retiring birth place, enjoy ancient bits of fur and dusty Mad Max boots; Creative flights of fancy, more entertaining than perfectly cut)

La femme et la féminité sont abordées en termes de féminisme chez Dior. Le créateur Galliano vise la conceptualisation et l’abstraction (‘modern feminism’ et ‘liberation’) et ne conçoit pas la couture (‘more entertaining than perfectly cut’) de la même manière que peuvent la concevoir Gaultier ou Valentino, par exemple. Le sérieux de son travail réside dans l’innovation et la proposition. La haute couture devient pour lui le moyen d’exprimer ses idées autour de la femme.

Le sème /énergie/ inhérent à ‘entertaining’ ‘nutting’, et ‘Creative flights of fancy’ se propage au ‘feminism’ et rend ainsi l’approche intellectuelle voire politique de la mode moins statique et capable de provoquer des bouleversements.