As a powerhouse institution indicative of fashion’s glorious past, and an active harbinger of its future, Maria Grazia Chiuri situated Dior’s FW22 show on the precipice of changing pages, suspended between what was and what is to be.

Pulling from new worlds, this season birthed slender pantsuits that emulate the thrill of the racetrack, and nip-waisted minidresses that oozed utilitarian charm in mock chain-mail mesh and beaded, armour-like embroidery. Raw corsetry spliced beige trenchcoats in two, exposing a waist comprised of ornate leather fastenings, with further deconstruction sitting atop the shoulders in a fusion of sporty shoulder pads and lacy harnesses. 

The Next Era is a moniker that emerges throughout, a comment on Chiuri’s wholehearted embrace of technological fashion, and explicit reference to the gallery of paintings curated by Mariella Bettineschi depicting prominent 16th-19th century female painters that surrounded the show’s soft, velvetine catwalk. When it’s not clearly spelt out on boots or vests, faux petti-coat skirts echoed the sentiment in thick, intricate patterns or on Bar jackets, reinvented into a system of breathable gills that regulate the humidity of the body thanks to developments in the label’s forward-thinking D-Air lab – wow.

The show’s finale was a smorgasbord of soft, printed satins filtered through a hazy, rose-tint. Flouncy puffa coats in contrasting fabrics preceded delicate trousers and high, pleated skirts. Gowns followed suit in demure deep cuts and the kind of flouncy crepe you’d expect to find an angel wearing in your dreams, reams of fabric billowing around their body like elegant tentacles. The future’s bright, the future’s Dior.