4 1GT Wednesday December 2 2020 | the times

fashion

Would the fashion icon approve of

a slouchy look, asks Anna Murphy

Mon Dieu! Dior moves

into loungewear

I

t’s a sign of the times

that Dior’s new

collection is the first

in the 74-year history

of the house to be

dedicated to loungewear.

It goes by the name of

Dior Chez Moi — basically

Diorspeak for being stuck

at home, retooled with

typical Franco-alchemy. It

was — the website tells us

— designed by Maria Grazia

Chiuri, Dior’s creative

director, during “the

confinement period”. Again,

doesn’t that immediately

sound more romantic,

more Résistance, than

mere lockdown?

It’s very gorgeous, much

of it covered in an intricate

toile du jouy or zodiac print.

Suffice it to say, if you need to

ask the price, you can’t afford

it (pyjama pants, £1,150, and

jacket, £1,300, dior.com). What

would Monsieur Dior — who

saw women’s bodies as cheese

to be pared — make of all this

slouchy-looking stuff? Surely

he would be horrified that the

brand he built not so much on

tailoring as on sculpting now

puts its name to daywear

pyjamas and a hoodie

sweatshirt? Even his fabled bar

jacket — as debuted in the

New Look of 1947 — has been

reworked in striped ribbed

cotton, the better to be comfy as well

as fabulous. Introducing the bar-digan.

Actually, I think he would be just

fine with it. Christian Dior was an

innovator in business, as well as a style

visionary. Among other commercial

move-ons, he created a diffusion line,

CD models, based in London, which

produced high-end ready-to-wear

versions of his couture version, sold

via Harrods and Kendal Milne in

Manchester. (All well and good until

British women turned up in Paris

wearing facsimiles of pieces that

his French couture clients thought

were one-offs.) He also went into

partnership with a range of British

brands to produce corsetry, costume

jewellery, shoes and fabrics. Would

he balk at the Dior Chez Moi

bralette? Mais non.

In truth, the new collection is a

corralling of the sort of pieces Grazia

Chiuri has been designing since she

arrived at the house four years ago.

For every evening gown she has

conjured up — and she does fairytale

as well as her great antecedent — she

will put in a pair of jeans or a parka.

It has earnt her criticism from some

of the sniffier members of the front

row for producing mere “clothes”, a

statement that’s preposterous enough

even before you factor in that these

same critics dress in what might

generously be described as normcore.

She believes in creating clothes that

women would actually wear — or, in

truth, for most of us, dream of being

able to afford to wear. “To be

creative and wearable,” she

said to me when we spoke last

week, “that is what I work to

achieve.” This was underlined

at the Dior exhibition at the

Victoria and Albert Museum

last year, when her outfits —

a wardrobe in waiting — were

placed cheek by jowl with

the theatrical costumes of

John Galliano.

Grazia Chiuri went on

to tell me how her own

lockdown — sorry,

confinement — had

reminded her of “how

important it can be to see, to

feel your best self when you

are alone”. I have certainly

been reappraised of similar

this year, much more jolly

when I have made some

effort, as opposed to none.

“My clothes are a kind

of house for my body,” she

continued, “and they have

to feel like the right space

for me to reside in. To

be uncomfortable is so

outdated. I always want

freedom of movement,

of attitude.” Hear, hear.

Especially when you

can’t go out much.

Slipping into something

very cool

Fashion types like to talk about

things such as “a coat wardrobe”, for

which read several different coats.

I used to consider the coat wardrobe

a nonsense. But, having always bought

for the ultra long-term, and with an

eye to distinctiveness, I now — after

many years — find myself with an

approximation of one. And a very big

fan of it I am becoming, in that I can

pick a coat to match — or tweak —

my mood. A great coat can make even

a trip to the supermarket exciting.

Which, right now, is lucky.

Food shopping aside, most of us

have spent most of our time at home

in recent months. Which is why I am

on the verge of developing another

variety of wardrobe, a slipper

wardrobe. I know! Ridiculous, right?

Well, no. Not when you consider price

per wear. My beloved old Celtic & Co

pair must be registering at a fractional

of a penny per outing, or — to be

more accurate — inning. And, much

as I still love them, I can’t deny that

wearing exactly the same thing on

my feet day in day out is a bit,

well, samey.

So it feels like destiny that Laidback

London, one of my favourite boutique

British footwear brands, has

introduced a slipper range. Given that

Laidback’s signature suede moccasin

boots are themselves almost as

comfortable as slippers, it was only

a matter of time. My pick are the

leopard-print ones, needless to say

(£95, laidbacklondon.com).

Instagram: @annagmurphy

I always

want

freedom of

movement,

of attitude

Top: Dior’s pyjamas.

Above: slippers, £95,

laidbacklondon.com

a c s w a a V

la

a

p

t

J

t

lo

c

r

im

fe

a b t w e o c t f b o

fr

o

E

c

S

v

Fashiontype

We’ll all be in

the kitchen

at parties

This year we have five days to join

bubbles for Christmas together — so

what will you wear, asks Anna Murphy

W

e have now

been made

cognisant of

the fact that

we will be

allowed five

days of it:

Christmas

as we sort of know it, that is. So —

conscientious fashion director that

I am — I immediately think, which

five outfits? Which is, in turn, focusing

my mind on what might be the more

general do’s and don’ts of festive

dressing this year.

Because we aren’t going to be going

to parties, obviously, unless you have

the wherewithal to whip up what

passes for a jamboree out of your

bubble of three households. (In which

case, I can’t even begin to address how

jealous I am.)

Indeed, we aren’t going to be going

anywhere much. Which is precisely

why it’s more important than ever to

have fun, even if it has to be conjured

Dress, £150 (kitristudio.com)