Dior Fall 2025: A Baroque Dream in Five Acts

PROLOGUE

Bob Wilson, the renowned theatre director responsible for staging Dior’s Fall 2025 show, sets the scene. Blue light baths the room but for a swing, illuminated by a spotlight. Written on its seat are the words “Once Upon A Time.” A barefoot woman in a short, floaty white dress enters slowly and takes her seat, yet she remains motionless, staring into the light. A low rumble and, occasionally, gentle piano chords play in the background. The light fades to black.

ACT I

“Once Upon A Time,” a man repeats loudly, as projections of comets streak across the darkened stage. Soon, a cast of women enter wearing clothing with distinctive Baroque elements: ruffled shirts, corsets, crinoline skirts, Elizabethan ruff collars, dandyish jackets and dresses with lace embellishments. Yet beneath a jacket peeps an unmistakably modern slogan: J’adore Dior, a T-shirt reads. The women walk slowly while an electric organ repeats an ascending arpeggio. Overhead, a pterodactyl traverses the venue.

ACT II

Tension builds. A more severe ambiance takes hold as the music intensifies into a driving rhythm, and the next set of models enters, commanding the space. Their clothing has the same Baroque romance as earlier, only now there are longer silhouettes in the form of floor-length coats and dresses. But for a rare few garments, everything is black and white. Giant meteors slowly descend from the ceiling. How ominous.

ACT III 

The pace of events quickens as models walk to FKA twigs’ upbeat “Room of Fools.” Outerwear plays a starring role in this act: shearling coats, bomber jackets, trench coats, deconstructed motorcycle jackets and shaggy oversized woolen tops turn up the temperature, as does the lava projected onto the floor. This is the show’s boiling point, its climax.

ACT IV

Then, the denouement. Lights dim, trap doors on the stage open and large, luminous shards emerge from clouds of blue smoke, like icebergs. The melancholic piano piece “Distant Figure Passacaglia,” written by Philip Glass and performed by Anton Batagov, begins to play. A tranquil atmosphere takes hold, and with it, an androgynous spirit. While there are long, assuredly feminine dresses, this act is marked by models in suits, long coats or jacket-trouser combinations. “Hey boy, hey girl,” the soundtrack sings as they walk.

ACT V

A little black dress with exaggerated hips (or panniers) marks the beginning of the end. She leads a group of models who synthesize the collection’s story: a folkloric tale of womanhood filled with Baroque romance and androgynous dalliances. (Creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri drew inspiration from Virginia Woolfe’s Orlando for the collection, show notes state.) Fog pours into the room, and the final model, in a long, velvet black cape, trousers and a beret, takes her exit.

EPILOGUE

The 80 women fill the room once more, standing in pairs — one “masculine” alongside one “feminine” — remaining still as glittering confetti falls from the ceiling.