The savoir-faire behind the silk scarves

Bringing a touch of elegance and audacity, scarves shine in the Dior Fall-Winter 2021-2022 women’s ready-to-wear collection. An ideal opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes of a savoir-faire reinvented with passion. Toile de Jouy, houndstooth, flowers, signs of the zodiac... The House’s emblematic codes mingle with works designed for Dior by the Italian artist Pietro Ruffo. These ornamentations are transposed onto fabric in a first, essential step, colorization, thanks to the method of pen engraving, an artisan reconstitutes in watercolor all the shades of the drawing. These poetic sketches and this brilliant palette are then applied to exceptional silk in the House’s Italian workshops. Selected for its unique qualities, the silk becomes, to the rhythm of dancing needles, a delicate twill.

Offering texture and volume, the jacquard edging is designed using a specific loom on which warp threads are individually controlled, making it possible to replicate even the most complex motifs, such as the name “Christian Dior.” Unrolled in one long ribbon, white silk is embellished with enchanting illustrations that vary depending on whether printing is by silkscreen or inkjet. In the next phase, silk fabrics are repeatedly passed through a halo of steam, then washed in successive baths until the ideal look and feel had been achieved. Once hand-cut, the squares receive their final hand-frayed or -rolled finishes. Infinitely meticulous gestures, expressions of the very particular attention to the art of detail that makes Dior scarves so refined.