Rihanna embraces nature at Dior SS27

Dior SS27

Yesterday afternoon marked a soft opening for Paris Fashion Week SS27, with designers Julie Kegels and Hodakova gradually bringing us into the season. But today held nothing back, as Dior – so far the schedule's biggest show – took place this afternoon (September 29). Creative director Jonathan Anderson brought us once again to his favoured location, Paris' Jardin des Tuileries, the very spot where his previous AW26 womenswear show was staged. Where last season drew inspiration from the green metal deck chairs found in the Tuileries, this time the collection centered on walnuts. Here's how that came together…

GOT NUTS?

It's clear J Dubs has a thing for Dior. To mark his third women's ready-to-wear collection (his ninth runway show within a year!), Anderson chose a pair of polished walnuts as the invitation. Housed in a charming grey gift box stamped with the Dior logo across the top, the invite set off immediate speculation about the direction of the forthcoming collection. Walnuts, it turned out, served as his SS27 starting point – specifically wénwán walnuts, objects used for play within Chinese culture. The tradition involves rotating a pair in one hand, keeping fingers occupied or massaging palms, functioning much like nature's version of a fidget spinner. "Coming across wénwán walnuts reminded me of how we can find knowledge and preciousness in nature," Anderson explained.

RIHANNA ARRIVED ON TIME!

A Dior show wouldn't be complete without a wave of A-list stars flying in, and SS27 delivered plenty of them front row. Familiar Dior faces including Rosalía, Jennifer Lawrence, Jisoo and Anya Taylor-Joy arrived at the Tuileries, joined by brand ambassador Mia Goth, Olympic skier Eileen Gu, K-pop star Hyunjin, and Cynthia Erivo, marking her first Dior appearance.

Yet the guest-of-honour seat, as ever, belonged to Robyn Rihanna Fenty, who this time reached her spot in reasonably good time. Word has it that the previous night, Rihanna kept guests waiting a total of 63 minutes before arriving at Matières Fécales SS27, though thankfully this afternoon's Dior show didn't run quite as late.

ACROSS THE POND

As noted, J Dubs brought today's catwalk back to the Tuileries, the same setting used for March's AW26 show. Where last season's set drew on those lime deck chairs, this time the octagonal runway appeared in lily white, with the central catwalk again cutting through the middle of the pond. Trees rising from the pond's center added a fantastical touch, with models passing beneath them along their path, while plumes of smoky mist drifted up from beneath the runway and across the water's surface.

LET THERE BE LIGHT(NESS)

Dior SS27Photography Estrop via Getty Images

Smoke rolling off the pond found its match in how light the collection felt. Wafer-thin fabrics were Anderson's choice – silk mousselines, organza and Chantilly lace – and the show notes asked, "How light can a garment be?". Some pieces carried such delicacy, seemingly built from petals, that a breeze might have swept them away. Transparency was played off against opaqueness by Anderson, echoing a tree's cycle through its stages (from losing its leaves entirely to blocking out the sky above). Black piping on white smoking jackets brought swans to mind – an inspiration Anderson hinted at through a glittering clutch bag on social media.

Silver and gold python trousers, gleaming against the floating see-through jackets, made their second appearance after first showing up at the Dior menswear show in June. Trumpet flowers inspired a series of knee-length cropped flares that drooped toward the ground, and green gardening shoes appeared on one model's feet. Nature and lightness merged in this collection, evoking fairies tumbled out of their trees. Cleary, J Dubs is in his tree-hugger phase.