So many historical moments have occurred within the gilded palace walls of Versailles. When it first coalesced as the seat of governmental power in France under the reign of King Louis XIV in 1682, it had seen hundreds of dignitaries from as far away as Siam and Mysore walk through its ornate halls. It once hosted a display of electricity in the late 1750s by The Abbé Nollet. In its courtyard in 1783, a hot air balloon soared in front of an astonished crowd of 12,000 demonstrating human flight long before the Wright Brothers invented the airplane. It is the birthplace of couture, and the site of where many treaties were signed and battles were strategized, not the least of which was the famed “Battle of Versailles” in 1973, where America and France’s most brilliant designers competed against each other. If only the walls of Versailles could speak, what stories they would tell.
In 2021, it once again played host to a historic event, with Dior’s spectacular Fall/Winter 2021 show staged within its famed “Hall of Mirrors”. Versailles’ opulence formed the backdrop of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s dark fairy tale-themed collection, and in the exclusive video above you are taken behind the scenes of the show and inside the palace of Versailles for a rarefied look at how this monumental presentation unfolded.
