Yara Shahidi, Elizabeth Debicki’s moment of calm during the Dior storm – WWD

It was fitting that the Rugby World Cup fan zone was located on the Place de la Concorde, just behind the tent where Dior held its show, as wading through the crowds to the venue was a full-contact sport, with celebrity scrimmages taking place inside.

Outside, fans gathered mostly for Blackpink’s Jisoo, plus dozens chanted “We want Apo, we want Mile” in honor of Thai acting duo Nattawin Wattanagithiphat and Phakphum Romsaithong. There were probably a lot of people there just to take in the atmosphere and make TikToks.

Inside the Tuileries tent, invited guests were equally frantic as they tried to capture the front row filled with Hollywood’s most treasured stars, including Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jenna Ortega and Robert Pattinson. A wall of rugby player-sized guards held the line.

Somehow, Elizabeth Debicki radiated calm despite all the emotions. Her secret? “I wish I had an answer. If I did, I would share it,” she said. “Mostly I wait because I never remember my invitation, although today I really wish I had one and I couldn’t find my seat.”

She is a regular Dior customer and a fan of the work of women’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. “They are truly a wonderful brand to work with. I feel like they’re very supportive of me in my career and that’s really great for an actor,” she said. The actress added that she had met Jisoo at previous events.

“Whenever I see a sea of ​​people, I know she’s the one they’re after,” she joked.

The chaos continued while the British contingent remained on the sidelines. The Crown actress Meg Bellamy spoke with Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn. It was Bellamy’s second show at Dior, but her PR blocked any questions about what she was doing. “It’s too sensitive,” he said, referring to the actors’ strike.

Yara Shahidi was happy to announce that she was taking some time off. “As for the strike, I’m sitting,” she said, referring to the ongoing dual collective actions of actors and writers.

The Grown Ups star commented on the powerful messages that crawled across the Barbie pink and electric yellow walls during the show, such as “I’m not the empty space between your pages” and “I’m not your doll, I’m not your game.”

Shahidi said the messages resonated with her. “I’m never surprised by her statements, they’re just very consistent in terms of her voice. Speaking to her privately and even in her collections, she always continued to focus on the power of women in every show,” she said.

Shahidi added that the news that the Writers Guild of America and studios have reached a tentative agreement to end the 146-day strike is positive.

“I’m excited about moving forward. “I know it was an inconvenient time for a lot of people who had to take a lot of risks to be able to strike, but it seems like it was all in an effort to ultimately work in an industry that is much better for all of us.” She said.

After the show, the tent got hot and Top Gun: Maverick star Monica Barbaro was busy checking on the camera crew. – Guys, do you need to drink? she asked as the temperature rose.

Barbaro liked the combination of clothing with visuals that were reminiscent of 50s advertisements encouraging women to learn how to stroke or properly hold a man’s instrument.

“They’re really wild,” she said. “Maria Grazia is a phenomenal feminist. She’s a true artist in the sense that she manages to discuss things that people don’t really want to talk about or that people don’t necessarily want to put in the fashion space or the commercial space, and she’s still able to make artistic statements about feminism. in a very real way.”

Other messages included: “Change the mirrors, break the rules” and, perhaps ironically, since the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton – and the world’s richest man – sat in the front row: “Capitalism will not bring her where she really wants to go.”

Barbaro added that Chiuri skillfully combines her feminist message with beautiful, classic clothes. “This is not cross-sex adoption, it doesn’t even say what the gender should be. The feminine and masculine quality is still there, and it’s whatever interpretation you want to showcase.”

She added that Dior had sent a tarot reader to her hotel room earlier that day. All signs pointed to a good show day, she added: “It was the perfect storyline for the occasion. It was brilliant.”