Chiara Ferragni’s debut as a co-host at Sanremo 2023 was highly anticipated. People were interested in how the internet entrepreneur would seem more than they were in seeing her in an unheard-of form. They anticipated that she would assert herself, which she did. Chiara demonstrated her skills as a fashion influencer by selecting a number of looks that went viral almost immediately (even becoming memes) and generated controversy due to their alluring aesthetic and underlying feminist message. To showcase Ferragni’s attractiveness and help her embody the figure of a strong, intelligent woman fighting for other women’s rights and encouraging them to break free from the cage of patriarchy, every detail was painstakingly analyzed for months and designed with Maria Grazia Chiuri and the Dior team. Everything is a clever viral content engine that projects an image of glitz and empowerment, from the new hairdo to the fierce makeup “inspired by a powerful woman” by Manuele Mameli. The new hairstyle is an updo with sculpted waves made by Pattibussa (who created it with Lancome products).
The protest outfit
Just past nine o’clock. Chiara Ferragni is announced by Amadeus and Gianni Morandi. A white stole that is clinging to her as the camera pans to a rising curtain reveals her from behind as she stands in for the “Pensati libera” manifesto. A line from a piece by the art team Claire Fontaine that is “dedicated to all women who feel they can just be themselves without being judged” and that is also “a confession to Chiara Ferragni herself, who strives not to be stereotyped by the system, and also a commitment she makes to herself every day as she struggles not to feel guilty about her success as a woman” was used as inspiration for this sentence. In a black silk corolla dress that adheres to Dior’s aesthetic standards and is accented with a pair of opera gloves, Chiara then turns and descends the Ariston staircase with the panache of a 1950s diva. The outcome is both exquisite and stunning, and the garment quickly becomes a social media trend.
The shameless dress
After the Manifesto dress, it’s time for a tulle dress embroidered with nude effects, lit up by tens of thousands of shimmering micro-crystals, and embroided with trompe l’oeil designs that mimic Chiara’s bare body. An image from the Dior Spring/Summer 2018 collection, the bling-bling style with the profile of a female bust that Madame chose for Sanremo 2021, and the oil painting Eva by Lucas Cranach the Elder, which is on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, serve as the three references in this piece. The purpose of this creation is to display the female body free from the shame that has always been forced on women. Eve, the first woman to be told that “the body generates shame, that it is simply an object of want or tempts to sin,” serves as the motivation for this. According to Chiara’s own Instagram post, “The purpose of this nudity illusion is to remind everyone of the freedom and equality of both sexes to express themselves without fear of condemnation or guilt. This illusion of nudity intends to remind everyone that showing off or feeling gorgeous does not enable anyone to excuse men’s aggression or lessen their responsibility.”
The dress against prejudice
Chiara donned a dress against hate to introduce D.i.Re, an organization that works to raise awareness of and combat the phenomenon of male violence against women through more than 100 anti-violence centers and more than 60 women’s shelters around Italy, on stage. She wants to donate the entirety of the fee she received as a co-presenter of Sanremo 2023 to D.i.Re. It was a simple peplum made of a white cloth that had some of the racist and misogynistic slurs directed at Chiara by enemies embroidered in black paint. What motivated this decision? To inspire everyone to participate and encourage women not to let haters get us down, because only the opinions of those who love us truly matter, according to Chiara, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Fabio Maria Damato, who acted as stylist.
The dress inspired to a cage
The “cage” refers to Chiara’s most recent look, which combines a jersey catsuit with rhinestone embroidery and a tulle skirt. It was inspired by the art of Jana Sterbak. It is a cry to abandon patriarchal norms and release the younger generation from the constraints placed on us by gender stereotypes. The Dior garment is also “a mother’s dream to her small kid that she can finally yell Victory!” because the Instagram photographs depict Chiara as little Victoria.
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