Dior’s New Book, GCDS Does an NFT, Miu Miu’s Front Row Talks Space – WWD

BLURRED LINES: Dior is celebrating its relationship with photographer Sarah Moon with a three-volume box set filled with her mysterious, blurred images evoking the language of dreams.

Moon has shot designs not only by current artistic director of women’s collections Maria Grazia Chiuri but also archival creations from founder Christian Dior and his successors Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano and Raf Simons.

Some photographs are drawn from Moon’s editorials for the Dior in-house magazine. Others were created especially for the book, and shot at the Fondation Le Corbusier or at Dior’s archives.

“Revealing the body while dressing it is probably what attracted me,” Moon said in a statement. 

Since joining the French fashion house in 2016, Chiuri has made it a rule to work with female photographers. Moon is known for her Polaroids and subtle images around the themes of the evanescence of beauty, ambiguity and the passage of time.

“It is via her images that I discovered fashion during my studies. They came to the surface again when I arrived at Dior and started looking for new interpretations of femininity in fashion design,” Chiuri said.

“Sarah Moon’s signature resides in her capacity to give form to unconscious movements and retrospective intuition and in her aptitude to image indescribable ambiences. For all these reasons her vision was perfect for transcribing the story told by my creative process for the Dior collections: that of a woman anchored in her epoch, drawing her strength by listening to her emotions,” she added.  

“Dior by Sarah Moon” will be published by Delpire & Co., the publishing house founded by Moon’s late partner Robert Delpire, on Nov. 3 in Europe and in January 2023 overseas, priced 120 euros, or $150. 

The first volume consists of a series of black-and-white compositions featuring model Andrea Gutiérrez wearing Dior’s original designs from 1947 to 1957. Delving into color, the second book is dedicated to the archives and features a text by curator and fashion historian Olivier Saillard. The third focuses on Moon’s work with Chiuri over the last six years. — JOELLE DIDERICH

FROM RUNWAY TO NFT: GCDS’s alien mascot Wirdo is getting the NFT treatment.

After having embodied the invitation — and spirit — of the brand’s spring 2023 runway show in September, the pink character is to become the protagonist of the label’s first foray in NFTs.

Through the initiative, GCDS will offer 4,888 unique non-fungible tokens on Ethereum. Buyers will receive a one-of-a-kind portrait and gain access to its community as well as a range of future services, including exclusive access to pre-sales of runway pieces and capsule collections, a 30 percent discount on the label’s e-commerce, as well as digital items to use in different meta worlds. In addition, members will be offered access to exclusive sales of concert tickets, online raffles and the chance to win runway show passes.

Sales of the GCDS NFTs will be launched on Friday on the brand’s website. Transactions will be available via both real and crypto currencies.

“Everybody can invest in NFTs, they are accessible and transferable to anyone in the world,” said GCDS chief executive officer Giordano Calza, who cofounded the brand with his brother Giuliano in 2015. Calza underscored that this aspect is in sync with the label’s approach and its mascot, “an alien who [embodies] our willingness to be on everyone’s side as an inclusive brand.”

“This initiative gives our community the opportunity to have safe assets that can be appreciated over time and that are protected by the blockchain technology. For GCDS, it also represents the chance to expand its community and a new way to generate value without necessarily having to produce physical goods,” added the executive.

To enable the brand’s aficionados to familiarize with the project, over the past week the company teased the initiative on Instagram through a series of different animations, both on its official account and a separate profile dedicated to Wirdo. Contents also included simple educational slides explaining what an NFT or blockchain are.

GCDS creative director Giuliano Calza explained in an exclusive interview with WWD that Wirdo best embodies this sentiment and the one of his generation.

“It’s a symbolic character and invites you to celebrate who you are,” said the Millennial designer at the time. “I got into fashion [and was perceived] as an alien. I was the one making ugly clothes and stuff, but that eventually worked. And I believe the same goes for my generation and younger ones who feel like aliens, too. But the thing is that we are not here in transit, we have to live in this world.”

Founded by the Calzas with an acronym for “God Can’t Destroy Streetwear,” GCDS has also referred to “Giuliano Calza Design Studio,” which will now be predominant as the brand is maturing in terms of aesthetic and expanding its offering. At the end of 2020, the company secured an investment by Italian private equity firm Made in Italy Fund, managed by Quadrivio and Pambianco. — SANDRA SALIBIAN

MOONLIGHT IN PARIS: Was it Earth seen from above, a distant planet or a bright full moon that featured on the giant screens? Guests mulled on the Space-Age set by artist Shuang Li at Miu Miu Tuesday afternoon.

“I guess it’s the full moon, so everybody’s crazy,” said Camille Razat, who struggled to get a view of the screens through a crowd of flashing camera bulbs.

Following wrapping the third season of hit show “Emily in Paris,” the actress is about to start shooting a French film under the direction of Valentin and Frédéric Potier, a real-life story in which she stars as one of two sisters, pianists with a rare nerve disease who had to relearn their art.

Razat is tinkling the ivories for the first time in the role. “I have to learn piano, but in a way as if I have this disease, so it’s a very different approach,” she said. “I’m learning, that’s why I love my job.”

After a bumper year with the release of his “Elvis” biopic, a new stage version of “Moulin Rouge” in Germany and “Faraway Downs,” a series based on his 2008 movie “Australia” coming out on Hulu in December, Baz Luhrmann is looking forward to some time off. “I’m going to take a moment for my soul to rest. Maybe I’ll follow the moon,” he mused.

Despite a busy week of shows, Chiara Ferragni had also managed some down time while in town with her family. “I went to Disneyland with my husband and my kids, that was the highlight of the whole week,” said the entrepreneur and influencer.

Among upcoming projects, she will be hosting the Sanremo Music Festival, a popular Italian music contest, in February. “It’s my first time hosting something, and in Italy it’s the biggest thing ever,” she said. “It’s great to be able to do something like that with lots of new and young talents.” — ALEX WYNNE

LIL’ KIM FRONTS MACKAGE: Mackage, the Montreal-based luxury outerwear company, has enlisted Lil’ Kim to front the fall ad campaign, shot by Drew Vickers.

The campaign will be rolled out via a high-impact global media takeover, with key metropolitan activations in cities such as New York, Paris, Toronto and Seoul.

“Lil’ Kim being a strong, independent woman who embraces bodycon fashion and is not afraid to stand out was the parallel we needed to introduce Mackage’s first monogram collection,” said Tanya Golesic, chief executive officer. “Her iconic looks have influenced so many throughout the ’90s and continues to do so today.”

She added, “As the business continues its accelerated growth this season, we felt that working with Kim would add dimension and depth to the brand in an unexpected way. Kim in so many ways is the originator of so much of the pop culture style we see today. The brand’s name came up in the same era, and there is a relevance to this era from a nostalgic and reference point perspective. The Mackage creative studio calls her the ‘original Kim,” she was an influencer before that was ever a thing.”

Mackage’s fall collection features the new monogram and includes men’s and women’s outerwear and sportswear, accessories, kids’ and footwear, retailing from $160 to $1,550. It launches Thursday on Mackage.com and in retail stores.

“As we were founded in the 1990s and rose in the early 2000s, there was a synergy culturally and from a nostalgic perspective. Kim has always created iconic powerful looks and there is power in the way she represents herself. Mackage has always designed for powerful women, so it just felt like a natural fit,” said Eran Elfassy, founder and chief creative officer.

Lil’ Kim said, “I already had a genuine relationship with Mackage. I love their incredible leathers and puffers. When the team reached out to me to collaborate on launching their first monogram, it just felt true to me. They knew and understood the history of my style and most iconic looks and built campaign looks around that.”

The 48-year-old rapper added that Mackage understands that streetwear and fashion mix and that’s how she’s always built her own looks. “They design for a women’s curves, and they aren’t afraid of drama. Mackage is for strong women…but it doesn’t mean we don’t want to feel protected,” she said. — LISA LOCKWOOD