WHAT THE WATER GAVE ME

FRIDA KAHLO R MAINS ONE OF THE MOST ENDURING POP CULTURAL INFLUENCES OF ALL TIME. (THIS STORY’S HEADLINE ISN’T JUST THE TITLE OF THE FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE ANTHEM – THE SONG ITSELF WAS INSPIRED BY THE MEXICAN PAINTER’S WORK AND NAMED AFTER ONE.) THIS RESORT 2024, THE LATE ARTIST RECEIVES ONE OF HER MOST ROUSING AND ROMANTIC TRIBUTES YET, WITH THE HOUSE OF DIOR DEDICATING ITS ENTIRE COLLECTION TO HER AND HER HOME COUNTRY. HERE’S AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT HOW CREATIVE DIRECTOR MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI HAS BROUGHT KAHLO’S STYLE AND SPIRIT TO LIFE.

- KENG YANG SHUEN

The ties between Dior and Mexico date back to 1947, when the wanderlust-fuelled Christian Dior named a dress in his debut collection after the country the first of several times he would do so. His successors continued to celebrate Mexican culture: from Marc Bohan to John Galliano to present-day creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, who interpreted the wardrobes of escaramuzas (local female equestrians) in 2019. And prior to the Resort 2024 show, which was staged this May at Frida Kahlo's alma mater Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, the maison had already held several landmark presentations in Mexico City, with the first being in 1972. Kahlo makes a natural muse for Chiuri, who has always championed the power of female artists and artisans. For Dior's latest collection that's in stores now, Chiuri was particularly drawn to the way Kahlo had donned men's three-piece suits as a statement of independence, parlaying that into a series of elegant tuxedo-style suits that like Kahlo's - blur the lines between gender boundaries. Wool and silk jacket, cotton poplin shirt, velvet skirt, Tribales metal and resin earring (sold in a pair), and silk bow, Dior