Delicacy Can Be Strong｜DIOR 2018 SS X The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly

Nikki de Saint Phalle

In this show Maria Grazia Chiuri, Gucci’s creative director, has flawlessly combined French artist Niki de Saint Phalle of whom I am fond and the bustling aspects of runway. What we cannot overlooked is that Chiuri sticks to her belief of conveying the feminist spirit in her collection show.

The venue of this show which kicked off in Musée Rodin, Paris was decorated with 80,000 pieces mirrored glass that took craftsmen 20 days to complete the installation. The venue installation was inspired by Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy built by Spanish architect Nik Gaudi who used mirrors, ceramic mosaic, glasses to complete such a mysterious building.

Dior時尚總監Maria Grazia Chiuri這次將我非常喜歡的法國藝術家Nikki de Saint Phalle與伸展台的風風火火融合的天衣無縫，不能忽視的是，這位貫徹始終的創意總監，依然緊緊抓著女性主義的精神，讓此議題在這次的collection裡發光發熱。

這場秀在巴黎的羅丹美術館展開，用八萬片破碎的鏡子、花了沒日沒夜整整20天，完成了內部秀場佈置，這靈感是Nikki當年受到西班牙建築師高第的影響，在托斯卡尼建了一座塔羅公園，用不完整的鏡子、陶瓷片、玻璃與馬賽克拼貼，完整了一座神秘的公園。

We Boast In Our Weakness

Maria Grazia Chiuri has truly expressed a words by Nanas, a frequently-seen character Niki created in her creations, “We met dragons, witches, magicians before finding the angel of temperance.” Elements of trauma, tears, stumble and failure turn a girl into a woman. That’s why there was no any piece of complete but broken glass in the show venue, only to find broken glass, and we clear away obstacles in our way to finally find completeness to create our own beauty.

I once travelled with my mom to Paris in my childhood when I had no idea of who Niki was, until I watched her sculpture in front of Centre Georges-Pompidou. Her line of sight seems twisted, and she felt severely hurt and used her last bit of power to embrace arts in struggle. A reading of Phalle’s book has led me to learn the term “child sexual abuse.” Niki had an unpleasant childhood and grew up through the rough path of life. But it’s the pain from her own trauma she had no ways of alleviating that helped heal the world and herself.

我認為Maria Grazia Chiuri真真切切的表達了Nikki在製作她藝術創作裡的常見人物Nanas時說的一句話：「We met dragons, witches, magicians before finding the angel of temperance.」傷痛，眼淚，疤痕，跌倒，失敗，是這些元素使的女孩成為女人。這也是為什麼秀場的玻璃沒有一塊是完整的，都是殘破不堪，但我們一路披荊斬棘，最後才找到完整，才造就屬於自己的美麗。

我在很小的時候跟媽媽到過巴黎，那時我還不認識Nikki這位藝術家，直到我在龐畢度藝術中心前看到她的雕塑，彷彿她的視線歪曲，她是受重傷的用最後一絲力量、苟延殘喘著擁抱藝術，讀了她的書之後，是Nikki讓我認識童年性騷擾這個詞的，她的童年不愉快，她成長的路程是蜿蜒崎嶇。但就是因為這些沒有辦法抹平的傷疤，她用這些去療癒世界，治療自己。

Fashion & Literature：The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s show leads me to call John Connoly’s The Book of Lost Things to mind abruptly and reread it which delves into fears. The Book of Lost Things narrates a boy named David who is devastated by the loss of his mother and later hates his stepmom. After his stepmom gives birth to a baby boy, David senses that that family belonging to himself has gone. After one aircraft accident he enters a new world, an enchanted forest, in hatred and inner monster-like hideousness to meet fears head on during the adventure. David has become one left alone and defeated by solitude and succumbed by loneliness. Only going through barriers to our growth and learning to forgive can we restore everything lost. Connoly’s fairy tales for children in bloody style have lead readers to join the main character to experience those things of which we are scared during our childhood and juvenile period.

Maria Grazia Chiuri has found the timidity of being a woman. In a men-led world where regulations are formulated, women staggeringly fight for the right of discourse all the way in hopes of relying on their strengths to prove that women should have been going head to head with men to move up to a certain position. Despite that the term “feminism” has been celebrated in the current era when Chiuri has always been labeled as “The first female creative director for Dior in 70 years” that seems to go well, why does this label exist? Latent discrimination is what we haven’t taken notice of: In our subconscious mind we take it granted that men should be those in high-power positions.

Maria Grazia Chiuri的秀讓我沒頭沒尾的想起我一本由約翰康納利寫的書（The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly），這本書探討「恐懼」，我重新又看了一遍。「失物之書」（The Book of Lost Things）在敘述小男孩大衛經歷喪母之痛，討厭新媽媽，新媽媽生下兒子後，大衛覺得屬於自己的家庭不見了。一次空難事件之後，他帶著恨意、內心猙獰可怕的怪獸進入到嶄新世界（一座魔法森林），在冒險中迎戰恐懼。大衛成為了那個the one that left alone，被孤獨打敗、被寂寞刺傷，只有經歷成長難關、學會原諒，才能重拾那些失去的一切。約翰康納利用血腥童話的方式帶我們跟主角一起經歷那些童年、青少年得面對的我們深深害怕的事情。

Maria Grazia Chiuri找到了身為女性的膽怯，在男性主導、制定規則的世界裡，我們磕磕碰碰的一路撿拾話語權，想要以一己之力證明女人早就應與男性並駕齊驅的地位。儘管這「女性主義」一詞，不斷的在我們所處的當下時代裡被歌頌，Maria Grazia Chiuri自己也是一樣，她總是被附註「Dior70年以來第一位女性創意總監」的標籤，看似風光，但這標籤為何存在呢？我們沒有注意到的是一項隱性的歧視：在我們潛意識裡，位居高位該是男性。

"Delicacy can be strong." (Victoria Beckham 18S/S)

Dior S/S 2018 collection show has led the guests to a feeling of mildness, resolution and softness with power. WhatMaria Grazia Chiuri and Niki de Saint Phalle want to express is that the broken heart after a break up, setbacks not overcome during childhood and feeling wronged overlooked along the dream-chasing path are the starting points leading people to find love and to be loved. Only being deeply defeated can we have a determination to breathe again and make it through every storm.

Dior這次的系列溫和又堅定，柔軟卻富有力量。Maria Grazia Chiuri和Nikki de Saint Phalle告訴我們，原來帶著我們找到愛與被愛的起點的，是那次失戀的心痛、是兒時跨不去的挫敗、也是追尋夢想的路上被忽視的委屈。只有被深深的打敗，我們才有重新呼吸，活過來的決心。

Photo Credit Instagram @dior

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