Greece’s Central Archaeological Council gave the okay early Wednesday morning to Christian Dior, the renowned French house of fashion design, to progress with a photo shoot on the Acropolis and other archaic Greek monuments, scheduled for June 17.
The council’s decision was unanimous. The only hiccup that entered the discussion, prior to the vote, were concerns related to filming on the Acropolis, at the Belle-gate and inside the Temple of Hephaestus in the Ancient Agora. The council chose to allow photos and aerial photographs in both places.
Members of the council said the images would serve as an advertisement for Greece abroad.
Design House Requires Approval from One More Committee
The design house requires the approval of one more council, scheduled to meet on Thursday. Dior has also requested permission to photograph and film at the Panathenaic Stadium from the Central Council of Modern Monuments.
The stadium is a multi-purpose facility in the city’s center. It is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.
A meeting of the committee is expected to take place on Thursday. They will decide if the Kallimarmaro will also be included as one of the sites to photograph Dior’s new collection, “Cruise 2022,” scheduled for June.
The French designer’s new collection is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. The council voted unanimously Wednesday to grant the licensing needed for photography and filming at archaeological sites.
Dior summer collection inspired by Greece
The summer collection, inspired by Greece and dedicated to its history and culture, features traditional motifs and the unique and domestic textile art. Dior’s international campaign, to promote the new collection, will photograph and film around the world, to capture unique images of history and culture from Greece.
As part of the event, the first such happening since the pandemic put an end to runway fashion shows, Dior will also pay tribute to its very first show ever in Greece, with models showing fashions from atop the Acropolis, which took place 70 years ago for the magazine Paris Match.
The Paris-based fashion giant announced that all relevant social distancing and hygiene measures will be in place for the in-person event.
Greek artists and artisans will also be featured at the event, similar to what Dior has done on location in sites such as Lecce, Italy and Marrakech, Morocco.
Christian Dior photographer Jean-Pierre Pedrazzini had the honor of taking photos for the groundbreaking photo shoot atop the Acropolis featuring the elegant gowns of the Fall 1951 collection. The gowns marked the premiere showing of Dior’s line called “Longue.”
Maria Grazia Chiuri, the fashion house’s artistic director for women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessory collections, stated as part of the announcement “Greece is a country that has always been close to my heart. As a native of Rome, to me it is an essential and highly inspiring cradle of culture, literature and creation in all its forms.
“From mythology to the ‘Odyssey,’ and from architecture and philosophy to priceless crafts, Athens for me represents a dream destination for staging a show and celebrating, more than ever, the magic and transmission of cultures.
“It is a great honor to be able to make this dream come true on June 17, in the heart of a capital of such prodigious beauty and through a wide range of artistic exchanges, from dance to drawing, and the ancestral skills that so fascinate me, which I will have the joy and privilege of showcasing in my collection,” Chiuri added.
the House desired to choose a destination that has been hard-hit by the pandemic, as it did last year. In the announcement, Dior said it means to “promote the creativity of local artists and artisans,” who have suffered a blow from the health crisis.
Media reports are speculating that it would indeed be possible to stage such a fashion show at the Acropolis now that some of the pathways around it have been paved with cement.
Back in 2017, Greek cultural authorities refused a bid from the Italian fashion house Gucci to stage a similar shoot as the Paris Match show on the Acropolis.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
