Inside Dior’s First NYC Runway Show at the Brooklyn Museum

When Maria Grazia Chiuri made her Dior debut as the first female creative director of the brand in 2016, her “We Should All Be Feminists” t-shirt was the talk of the Internet. So it comes as no surprise that years later, for Chiuri’s first collection showing in New York City, she opted for the Brooklyn Museum as the location for her pre-fall 2024 runway show. The cultural institution is, after all, one of the first to have a feminist art department and well-known for housing Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party.

As guests sat in the museum’s skylighted Beaux-Arts Court, models marched across its glass-tile floor. The sultry 1930s film icon Marlene Dietrich’s androgynous style was a core piece of inspiration for the collection—focused on hyper-sharp tailoring and genius combinations of black and white. Dietrich was a Dior fan herself, most notably wearing founder Christian Dior’s jackets in her everyday life, and his suits and glammed-up gowns in films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright.

All shades of modernized menswear served as a tamer, more wearable version of what Dietrich donned nearly 100 years ago. Neat little skinny ties, baker boy hats, and shaded aviators were the accessories bringing leather biker jackets, safari coats, and tightly cut vests to life. Of course, there were Bar jackets. Plus, all the usual red carpet-ready gowns rendered in softly lit metallics or crystal beaded mesh.

Dietrich’s style was all her own, and deeply personal; the looks that made the biggest impact leaned more toward statement-making personality versus commercial-ready wardrobe staples. A leopard print coat, a short tie dramatically undone on top of a blouse, a white shirt deconstructed with baggy sleeves and an open cowl neckline, and a leather aviator jacket—its collar trimmed with plush shearling that looked like it could have come straight out of Old Hollywood—stunned. Other pieces, like a logo sweatsuit and chunky sweater styled over a crystal accented skirt, felt intrinsic to how people dress in the city—that high-low quality and anything-goes affect New Yorkers have been owning since the dawn of time.

The core of the collection was presented in look book form in December, but for the show’s big debut, ten specific New York-inspired looks were added to the mix. Denim faded with the New York City skyline had a cool kind of Tony Alamo vibe (the 1980s cult leader who designed bedazzled jackets for stars including Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson).

And yet, in a world still transfixed with rare vintage purses, the new Saddle bags shown as part of the collection were definitive hits and distinctly reminiscent of Galliano-era Dior—printed with newspaper print and the bright American flag, styled with oversized leather and printed tights, they felt so right.