“The Redcoats Are Coming”: Dara’s Dispatch From Dior FW25

TUESDAY 5:46 PM MARCH 4, 2025 PARIS

Once upon a time at Paris Fashion Week, our fashion director Dara pushed through swarming crowds outside the Tuileries Garden for Dior FW25, where Maria Grazia Chiuri presented a sweeping fashion fairytale fitting of the iconic French house. Red military coats, pantaloons, and ruffles were proof that the modern appetite for nostalgia knows no limit. “It’s all very warrior girl,” Dara said, “but in a military 1800s type way.” After the show, she gave us her dispatch from the battlefield.

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MEKALA RAJAGOPAL: Bonjour, Paris.

DARA: Bonjour.

RAJAGOPAL: When did you get there?

DARA: I got to Paris last Thursday because we were shooting a super secret cover shoot. And I’ve been getting settled in. No jetlag. It’s great. This weekend, I went to the Louvre. I saw some fabulous Dior gowns in the Louvre, I saw the Mona Lisa, and now I’m here at Fashion Week and I just left Dior. 

RAJAGOPAL: Where was the show? What was the scene?’

DARA: I was running from a fitting and the cab dropped me off across the Place de la Concorde. The show is always in this amazing giant cube space that they built in the Tuileries Garden, and you go up and it’s this monumental Dior moment, everyone crowded outside. It’s a circus. I fought my way through the crowd and got in, and it was this very minimal space that was all lit up blue with a swing in the center. 

RAJAGOPAL: Oh, spooky.

DARA: Yeah, it was very mysterious and ominous. Then the show started, and a girl came out and got on the swing, and then the lights went off and the swing got sucked back up into the ceiling, which was really crazy. Then the music changed, the floor became a screen, and it started shooting all these flames across the runway, which was really cool. And this voiceover started going, “Once upon a time…” and then all these girls in slightly historical fashion started marching out.

RAJAGOPAL: It was giving Victorian at first.

DARA: Yeah, a little Victorian. It was these little jackets and ruffled collared shirts and culottes, and I really loved the silhouette of them, especially with the flat boots. And then there were different sections where it was like the Big Bang. Boulders descended from the ceiling, and then glaciers rose up from the floor. It was a full nature experience. It was really wild.

RAJAGOPAL: Prehistoric, if you will. And the pterodactyl.

DARA: Oh my god. The pterodactyl. It came from behind me. I was really scared, but I am a big fan of animatronics and puppets, so I was also excited. 

RAJAGOPAL: It looked serious.

DARA: It was flying right above my head and I was like, “Oh my god, it’s going to get the girls.”

RAJAGOPAL: It’s like a fashion vulture. 

DARA: And then there were some more baddie looks like the “J’adore Dior” t-shirt with the fur stole, which I thought was really fab. And then there were the classic gowns we love. 

RAJAGOPAL: There were some Galliano vibes, some past Dior references. It’s a journey through time.

DARA: A journey through time, a history of strength and womanhood and beauty. It was monumental-feeling and very dramatic.

RAJAGOPAL: Drama to the max.

DARA: I really like the culottes, the little wee pants. 

RAJAGOPAL: So cute.

DARA: And there was one red jacket that was captain-esque that was cool.

RAJAGOPAL: The one with the ruffles?

DARA: Yeah, the sort of French Revolutionary jacket. Redcoat vibes.

RAJAGOPAL: The Redcoats are coming. 

DARA: The Redcoats are coming. And then there were these strong-shouldered little cropped parkas. That was fun. There was this really wild one that kind of looked like hair in real life, but I think it was just lace.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m obsessed with objects that look like hair or are made of hair.

DARA: I feel like hairy clothes are trending.

RAJAGOPAL: Hairy clothes, hairy furniture.

DARA: People love hairy stuff right now.

RAJAGOPAL: I like this leather jacket with the white lace coming out of it.

DARA: Oh, that’s cool. With the shoulder popped out. I like that moto silhouette. It’s all very warrior girl, but in a military 1800s type way. It’s giving historical dress. Being in the Louvre and seeing all those amazing pieces of furniture and imagining the lives of all those people, it was like holding court.

RAJAGOPAL: Who were the members of the court? Who was there?

DARA: Well, Natalie Portman is the queen of the court. We’re all jesters. And I saw Natalia Vodianova, the supermodel, and Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe. Olivia Palermo, Lucy Hale. I saw Brenda Hashtag and this other TikTok girl, and they were both wearing white lace dresses. They looked really cute. 

RAJAGOPAL: Are we going to see Victorian ancient moments this spring and fall? The bloomers have already had their moment.

DARA: The girls are wearing bloomers. In summer, we have bloomers. And in fall, we’ll have the culottes. I’m totally down for that silhouette. That feels new, that feels fresh.

RAJAGOPAL: Where are you going tonight?

DARA: There’s a gala at the Louvre tonight, so I’m going back to experience all this fab history, which we saw at the show today.

RAJAGOPAL: For the Dior encore.

DARA: I hope so. Apparently, it’s going to be a lot of billionaires.

RAJAGOPAL: Well, network, darling. Bring me one.

DARA: Exactly. I’m looking for my meal ticket out.