Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri will showcase brand’s pre-fall collection at the Gateway of India

Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri is set to showcase her 2023 pre-fall collection at the historic Gateway of India monument in Mumbai.

The show, which is scheduled to be held on Thursday 30 March, will be the first time an European luxury brand will make its way to India.

The collection will feature silk dresses, evening coats, and sari-inspired skirts that reference traditional Indian silhouettes.

“For me to show in India means also to celebrate the heritage of India in embroidery and how important [it is] in the fashion world,” Chiuri told Business of Fashion.

In the past few years, Dior’s parent company LVMH opened many of its ateliers to the public as part of a programme called Journées Particulières.

Chiuri said she wanted to take that idea to “another country that is very important in the fashion system.

“Fashion is much more than 10 minutes on the runway,” the designer added. “It’s all the people that work together at this incredible project.

“I am doing this show for love of this country, and how much they support my creativity. It is really something very personal.”

For this event, Dior is reportedly partnering with Chanakya, a Mumbai-based atelier and craftsmanship school for women.

Chanakya’s mission is to “provide women from low-income communities with a high-quality education in hand embroidery, enabling them to maximise their potential and enhance their lives.

“The Foundation believes in transforming societies by instilling a vision, making role models and promoting a sense of community.”

Last month, Dior channelled rebellious women at Paris Fashion Week.

Three women – the house founder’s sister Catherine Dior, a French resistance hero, as well as French singers Edith Piaf and Juliette Greco, each described as “rebellious, at once strong and fragile” – were muses in this collection.

It channeled the 1950s, Christian Dior’s heyday.