Last night in Marrakech, Morrocco, at the magnificent El Badu Palace, Maria Grazia Chiuri held her Dior Resort 2020 show with a bonfire-lit, tapestry-lined runway tracing the historic courtyard’s central pool. Christian Dior’s new resort collection was positioned at the crossroads of Europe and Africa as a cultural dialogue between the French Maison’s savoir-faire codes and the artists, artisans and craftsmanship of North Africa.

It was in one part an homage to Dior’s historic ties to Marrakech, best exemplified by the era helmed by Algerian-born Yves Saint Laurent from the 1950s to ‘60s. It was also a nod to the current age of awareness, “culture teaches us to live together,” the show notes quoted of Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jalloun. “[It] teaches us that we’re not alone in the world, that other people have different traditions and ways of living that are just as valid as our own.”

At the heart of the collection was Dior’s signature toile de Jouy fabric, which was recreated in one-hundred percent African wax made in collaboration with atelier Uniwax in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan. These intricate textiles became the basis of jumpsuits, New Look skirts and tailored suits, emblazoned with recurring Dior motifs such as mythical creatures, exotic florals, and taro card references rendered in an earthy palette of ochre, navy, khaki, and maroon.

The collection also included collaborations with Jamaican-British designer Grace Wales Bonner and American contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas, who presented their interpretations of the New Look silhouette and Classic Bar Jacket. An encounter with Sumano, an association preserving the artisanship of Moroccan weavers and pottery makers, inspired a fringed coat design and influenced the set design, and there was a chemise designed by Ivory Coast designer Monsieur Pathé’O, who was famous for making Nelson Mandela’s shirts. Then there was a reappearance of YSL’s 1960 “Marrakech” coat, which in its modern incarnation was a textured cream silk shawl collar coat with a matching pleated skirt.

Following the show, guests were treated to a surprise performance by Diana Ross.