CRUISE REPORT
Taking place in some of the most captivating places across the globe – including an Italian private island, a South Korean palace and a storied Hollywood film studio – this season’s resort collections took escapism up a level
CHANEL
Chanel’s relationship with the silver screen goes back almost a century, and its cruise show – held at the Paramount Studios lot – proved the brand’s continued hold on Hollywood. With Margot Robbie, Kristen Stewart, Riley Keough, Issa Rae and Marion Cotillard lighting up the front row, plus – most surprising Chanel guest ever? – Snoop Dogg, who performed at the afterparty, this was pure power play. The collection itself was youthful and upbeat, a breezy take on Venice Beach chic that illustrated Virginie Viard’s modern vision: leg warmers and tweed running shorts, sequined swimsuits and wedge-heel trainers, shiny pastel tracksuits and delicious, candy-coloured bags.
MAX MARA
Though a relative newcomer to the destination-show circuit, the Milan-based brand chooses clever spaces that chime with its intelligent, female-focused vision. This collection was shown in Stockholm City Hall, site of the annual Nobel Prize banquet. Designer Ian Griffiths found inspiration in local women, from the 17th-century ‘troublesome lesbian’ Queen Christina of Sweden to writer Selma Lagerlöf, who in 1909 became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. So far, so serious, but the clothes had a folkloric wit, embroidered with summer flowers and imbued with a girlish spirit.
DIOR
‘It’s not about my creativity,’ said an emotional Maria Grazia Chiuri backstage. ‘This is about community.’ Bringing together women artisans who combined their fine handwork with Parisian savoir faire, Dior’s Mexico City cruise show was a triumph of collaboration. It was the realisation of an idea the designer had had for years, given her lifelong love of radical Mexican artist Frida Kahlo – the collection was shown in the college where Kahlo studied, and the clothes echoed the artist’s masculine-meets-feminine aesthetic, a familiar trope for Chiuri during h
