Dior’s ‘Plan de Paris’ Fall 2023 campaign resonates even more deeply if one can dial back 20-25 years in memory, when the streets of Paris were filled with young women from Japan, Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan and the rest of Asia — arriving for their first experience of the ‘City of Lights’.

For us, Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri is telling a true story with this delightful campaign.

I imagine the moments were equivalent to the late 60s when young Americans arrived in Paris on cheap TWA/Pan Am night flights, to get their first taste of the most fabulous city on the planet — unless you seek an isolated island in the South Pacific. Eventually you will become bored, and return to Paris.

Photographer Elaine Constantine [IG] captures models Enya Davis, Flor, Sherry Shi and Sophia Lisboa, with creative direction by Paul Icard and styling by Louise Ford. / Makeup by Christine Corbel; hair by Christian Eberhard

It’s nearly seven years since Chiuri arrived at Dior, and she’s thriving, knowing that she’s come to understand Frenchness so much better.

The designer offered evidence of her deepening knowledge of Frenchness with the expansion of the Dior archives’ map of Paris print, first introduced as a scarf and expanding to ready-to-wear in the Spring/Summer 2023 collection.

What a precious memory Paris is, worn as a scarf, carried as the book tote or in full ready-to-wear regalia by these young women. The level of architectural detail in the print is extraordinary, as all spokes in the streets of Paris arrive at the House of Dior.

Typically most maps of Paris place Avenue Montaigne, home to Christian Dior, on the left of the map. When Chiuri discovered the map print in the Dior archives, she took liberties to insure that Christian Dior became the center of the Parisian universe.

Clearly the archival map print has achieved major status at Dior, as it rolls forward into fall with a major campaign.

Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri is simply the best of the luxury brand story tellers. On Monday, the creative director was profiled in WWD with that rare breakdown of financial information for a LVMH brand. I knew Dior has done very well, but not that Chiuri has tripled the Dior business in less than seven years. That’s extraordinary.

Tonight, October 24, WWD will present Chiuri with its John B. Fairchild Honor at an awards ceremony in New York City.

The biggest impression that Chiuri made on AOC — besides her strong feminist credentials — was her expansion of the artists and their cultures that define the Dior experience. Previously, male designers made the brand about themselves and their interpretation of Dior.

Chiuri’s biggest contribution is a vision that sees her role as a catalyst of the imaginations of many talents— including artisans across the world — that create a 21st century family stew inspired not only by Christian Dior but other strong women who influenced the brand and all the places they traveled across the world.

Can you imagine how much impact the ‘Plan de Paris’ print will have with the Paris 2024 Olympics? It’s so exciting to see a female creative director have such huge financial impact on one of the world’s premier luxury brands. Bravo Maria Grazia Chiuri!! ~ Anne