Olimpia Zagnoli puts an abstract spin on Dior’s new collection

The fashion house enlisted the Milanese artist to bring its Fall collection to life with an illustrated campaign inspired by experiments in her old sketchbooks

Dior’s new Fall 2020 collection has been playfully reimagined as vibrant illustrations by Italian artist and illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli. The visuals were created digitally, but have the loose, handmade feel of traditional painting, with thick brushstrokes and figures presented in exaggerated proportions.

“After talking to [Dior creative director] Maria Grazia Chiuri about the inspiration behind the collection, I thought a fluid, almost wet approach to the canvas was going to give the garments and the models more air and freedom,” Zagnoli tells us. “I went back to my sketchbooks and some works I had done with Japanese brushes and big markers and I tried to replicate that same feeling digitally.”

Dior Fall campaign by Olimpia Zagnoli
Top image and here: Fall 2020 campaign illustrations by Olimpia Zagnoli for Dior

The vast majority of fashion marketing relies on enticing people through detailed, true-to-life imagery. However, the fashion world has embraced more suggestive approaches throughout the pandemic, including campaign imagery and magazine covers that make clever use of illustration and conceptual photography.

“I think illustration is working very well in times like this. It doesn’t require makeup or a wind machine and it stimulates imagination. You may not see the exact garment you’ll end up finding in a boutique, but you can feel it,” Zagnoli adds. “It’s almost as if you could breathe the idea behind it, the atmosphere.”

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Bonjour @dior

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