With the Olympic Games taking place in Paris this summer, Maria Grazia Chiuri paid a fitting tribute to all athletes whom, from antiquity to the present day, have overcome prejudice and obstacles to ensure a level playing field in sports contests. For the designer, the collection represented an opportunity to combine couture and sportswear with classicism, rebellion, collective energy and, above all, the political value of the female body.

She focus on a garment she holds dear: the peplum but used a material that didn’t belong to the world of couture: jersey, proposed here as a metal mesh in gold, silver and white, which caresses the silhouette and embraces its shape, with the help of an ultralight inner bustier structuring the outfits.

Making a comeback in many pieces in this collection, pleats are sewn down or open to accompany movement. Draping, a visual reference to classical statuary, is prevalent on the catwalk in silk dresses magnified by embroidery, moiré jacquard skirts transformed by time, ensembles where the draped skirt reveals a pair of pants at each step, and the goddess dresses, which, hanging from one shoulder, unveil transparent metallic tank tops trimmed in satin. In the vein of a couture model, a sports jersey is adorned with gold leaves or micro sequins. Red, the “color of life,” according to Christian Dior, sublimates the show; the bathrobe, embellished with mosaic mirrors, chooses to disobey its function.