‘Cultural appropriation’ is a much-used criticism in social media. But do those words define in any way the Dior Cruise collection, shown in Marrakech, with models walking around fire and water in the noble ruins of the El Badi Palace?
Add birds of prey flying over the crumbling walls, with the flash-bang of an unexpected thunderstorm, and you might be persuaded to imagine that Mother Nature was in a rage.
But not, surely, with Maria Grazia Chiuri, who was scrupulous in her support of heritage techniques from across the African continent and beyond. In particular, she used Uniwax – the African company that still produces pure batik – under threat in favour of cheap, digitally-produced versions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw20l67hmrR/?utm_source=ig_embed“If Dior uses the wax properly, people will understand that it is part of luxury,” the designer explained. “At this moment when everyone is speaking about cultural appropriation, we want to explain that craftsmanship moves around the world, but we are all on common ground. We speak too much about the distance between us – let’s talk about what we have in common.”
