Dior in India - Documentary Review 

Vincent Villemin

 

The Dior in India Documentary retraces the experience Dior had in India creating the fall 2023 collection of the couture house. The documentary showcases many traditional Indian crafts and how they are implemented into the Dior savoir-faire. The Collection is a blend of traditions from all over the country remixed with European influences and the outcome is not praised by all. In fact, the Fashion show and the documentary have faced a lot of critics and accusations after the release of the show at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. This  documentary review will aim to analyse and understand some of the criticisms and questionings liked to the Christian Dior fall 2023 fashion show in Mumbai.  

 

To start off, the documentary’s  focus is on showing all the different crafts and techniques Dior used in the collection. The house wants to put in light the production practises of textile like the embroideries, the weaving, the block printed textile, the Madras check pattern and all the different inspirations of Saree used and produced in India for Dior. On top of that, a Toran, a textile very richly decorated used in India to welcome guests in the home, was created for the show with a mix of all the artisans different background stories, creating a patchwork of design from all over India. Indeed the Director of the Chanakya school of crafts and main collaborator of Maria Grazia Chuiri in India, Karishma Swali stated about the Toran made for the show, « we tried to incorporate elements from all over the country, elements that are auspicious and celebratory » (23:03min).This Toran, draped over the Facade of the Gateway of India ( an old colonial monument of Mumbai)  measures 10 by 3 meters. As the producer of the shows Benedict Fournier stated  in the documentary « this fashion show was obviously also about respecting the traditions of the country hosting us. » (25:23 min). However, a lot of voice rose against the designs of the show, in an article for The Quint, journalist Nishtha Gautam expressed her disappointment with the lack of innovation in the creations. Although the collection was inspired by traditional Indian clothing like Sarees and Kurtas, she said the interpretation was too western simplistic and lacked artistic depth. She also raised concerns about the blurred line between cultural inspiration and appropriation. If the European brand of Dior uses typical sometimes sacred indian crafts to create European style fashion sold to western elites, considering the price of Dior garments, one can wonder when the line if appropriation is crossed.  Some even argue that this showcasing of crafts collaboration with India by Dior actually camouflages the uglier truth which Dior doesn’t talk about or at the show or during the documentary. Kai Schultz, Elizabeth Paton and Phyllida Jay from New York Times 2020’s article « Luxury’s Hidden Indian Supply Chain » state

 

 « since the 1980s, luxury brands have quietly outsourced much of their embroidery work to India. The country is one of the world’s largest garment exporters (…) during visits to several Mumbai factories, and in more than three dozen interviews with artisans, factory managers and designers, The New York Times found that embroiderers still completed orders at unregulated facilities that did not meet Indian factory safety laws. Many workers still do not have any employment benefits or protections, while seasonal demands for thousands of hours of overtime would coincide with the latest fashion weeks in Europe. »

 

 This therefore shows the complicity of High fashion houses  and how they fail to address and solve the problem in their supply chains. In the Documentary Dior doesn’t address any cultural appropriation issue or supply chain issue, two key point in a fashion collaboration between two countries.On top of that in the article « Breaking down everything Dior did wrong and explaining the cultural context of the Indian luxury market » Hiral Harora, an Indian fashion journalist for Vogue Chaos 2023, states 

 

« Acting like acknowledging their use of Indian craftsmanship is a favour to us all. This is not just Dior’s fault but also a sentiment echoed by the press. In a New York Times article from 2020, it was revealed that all top luxury brands produce in India. Here, they are able to get away with wages as low as $225 per month, and sometimes do not even meet this minimum. Even the idea that we need this acknowledgement from the West has its roots in Orientalism. »

 

Harora therefore implies that this operation was rather a marketing move by LVMH to ride the Indian textile trend, a trend deeply linked to orientalist European fashion that fetishises a western view of India, a view that descends from colonialism. Dior in India invests in traditional hand crafts but is also benefitting from cheap skilled labour and the opening up of a new market for Dior, its use of Indian textile traditions onto European style clothing brand is sometimes more than questionable and delicate. In the same article we can read,

 

« LVMH’s motives are very clear -the Indian market has money. As the world struggles with a recession and the effects of the pandemic, Indian economy is set to grow despite it all because of its sheer size. The Indian diaspora based in the Western markets represents an elite with deep pockets that the luxury market has not targeted till now. We saw this phenomenon play out with the ‘Chinese customer’ in the last decade when the West made several wrong moves in their attempts to pander to them. These are mistakes you can expect when you see a group of people as a mindless mass of a customer rather than someone real. »

 

This quote further illustrates how Dior is leading a rather hypocritical advertising campaign showcasing all the beauty and cleanliness of their collaboration in India in this documentary. The viewer needs to also be aware of the fact that Dior most probably is making millions using the Indian labour market and craftsmanship cheaper than European and introducing themselves to a new Indian market, one of the most vibrant in the world. Once more research is done, the project Dior in India seems to be a marketing and business move more than an investment in local crafts.

 

To finish off, I believe that it is important to note that Dior in India was an interesting project, showcasing the Indian textile tradition, however the fashion house seems to be very discreet concerning anythings less shiny and pretty in their production like cheaper labour force, limited working condition, understanding of the meaning of Indian textiles, as well as really being on the line of cultural appropriation. The viewer needs to be aware that Dior is a French house creating a collection with traditional Indian textiles to sell to the ultra rich elites of the West mainly. Dior is not only showcasing and collaborating with crafts, it is also making a lot of money out of a market and traditions that is not theirs. Dior is also a business that makes and needs always more profit from one of the most abusive markets of the world: fashion. 

Bibliography:


looks from the Dior fall 2023 show in Mumbai by Maria Grazia Chiuri, we can very well see the european style of dressing with some discret indian influences.

1st indian inspired look by Christian Dior in 1947 called, "Chandernagor", like the french city colony of india. This look is indirectly inspired by orientalism and colonialism. 

Line up of the fashion show with the custum made Toran textile in the background draping the Gateway to India colonial monument

Quote from Times of India, "Dior show in Mumbai: Things that dissapointed us", critic by Akshay Kaushal. 31th of May 2023.

" - The guest lis could have been more diverse:

We could have someone from the textile ministry of India or Khadi and Village commission industries to attend the show. moreover there could have been more names from the field of sports, politics and culture to be a part of this historic event> Perhaps the PR agency Longform, coordoninating the show, could have suggested the brand for this

-  Handful of Indian models walked the ramp:

The only welcome respite was that Dior did have Indian models walk for the brand, But there was only a handful. If you are celebrating India's diverse culture, why would you take international models for the show? Wish we had more indian models walk the ramp for the showcase. "