Dior hosts 200 young women in mass mentor project

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 13, 2018

Welcome to the era of luxurious mass mentoring.
 
The house of Christian Dior took the unprecedented step of inviting 200 young women from over a score of countries to a two-day fashion “sorority” in Paris entitled Women@Dior.

Staged in the house over two days ending March 13, each young invitee was paired off with a mentor. Each mentor is a Dior employee under 30, who will follow their pupil throughout the next 12 months.
 
“The House had never before brought together so many talented females of so many nationalities. This unique convergence will take place following the principles of Sorority -- the feminine solidarity that exists beyond traditional, cultural and geographical frontiers - and the Hand – the hand that extends, helps, carries, and shares,” Dior said in a release.

The move follows a series of “feminist” collections by Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, and happened in the week after International Woman’s Day.
 
The goal is to help nurture “the leaders of tomorrow: brilliant students in fashion, business or engineering schools,” Dior added.
 
The program was organized around plenary sessions centered on three symbolic axes - Education, Empowerment and Elevation. Each visitor also enjoyed immersive visits to typically off-limits Dior departments.

In terms of Education, visits to the Dior Heritage, the house’s archives, or “Dior’s gold reserve,” with rare objects, fashion and documents. And to Dior’s ready-to-wear and haute couture ateliers where the “Petites Mains,” or seamstresses, work their magic. Elevation: a series of workshops led by experts from Dior Academy on the house’s DNA; and from the Stimulus law firm who were to “initiate them in emotional intelligence.” Finally, Empowerment; where participants met in Dior’s boardroom with senior executives, in discussions led by author Florence Sandis.
 
And in one highlight, sculptor Anilore Banon, a NASA collaborator, presented Vitae, a project to send her sculpture symbolizing humanity with a million hand prints to the moon. Also lending their authority in multiple workshops were Stéphane de Freitas, a César nominee and the creator of Eloquentia; and, in an interactive poetic conference, Vincent Avanzi, Chief Poetic Officer. A novel title in a fashion house.