Dior bought its pre-fall 2025 runway show to a garden at the To-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Falling during the fleeting cherry blossom season, the evening show was illuminated by sakura trees while the tranquil sounds of “Coloratura” by Ichiko Aoba played as part of the runway soundtrack. Guests including actresses Anna Sawai and Lily James were in attendance for the destination show.
For the pre-fall 2025 collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri paid homage to the brand’s historic connections to Japan. In the early years of the fashion house, Monsieur Dior designed collections inspired by Japanese gardens, used brocades from Tatsumura Textile, and in 1953, Dior was the first couture house to present its collection in Japan. The brand’s connection to Japan continued in the decades that followed, including under John Galliano, who drew inspiration from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly—set in Nagasaki—for the Dior S/S 07 haute couture collection. For the latest Dior collection, Chiuri incorporated prints and traditional silhouettes that have played a part in the brand’s connection to Japan. Here, more on the Dior pre-fall 2025 collection.
The To-Ji Temple in Kyoto
The nighttime show was held at the To-ji Temple in Kyoto, which was lit up against the dark sky alongside the swaths of cherry blossoms in bloom for spring. Here, models gathered in front of the temple for the finale after the runway concluded.
Local Artisans
For its pre-fall 2025, Dior collaborated with Japanese artisans, including experts the fashion house and Christian Dior himself have worked with since the 1950s. “As a tribute to the collaboration established and developed since 1954 between Christian Dior and Tatsumura Textile—the historic jacquard silk weaving workshops founded in Kyoto in 1894—this Dior collection notably features silhouettes sublimated by their emblematic fabrics,” the show notes explained. Not only did this mark a continuation of the historic partnership, but the collection used the same motifs selected by Christian Dior for his own designs more than 70 years ago.
Chiuri also took inspiration from a cherry blossom print in Dior’s S/S 53 collection and invited kimono dyeing master Tabata Kihachi to revisit the design with his own techniques. She also paid homage to the Japanese headdresses, working with Tokyo-based milliner Sawa Vaughters to reinterpret the kasa hat.
