Dior postpones its planned cruise collection in Italy

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 16, 2020

Christian Dior has called off its next cruise runway show, which initially had been scheduled to be staged in Lecce, Italy, making it the latest important fashion event called off due to coronavirus.

Dior joins a growing list of major league fashion houses that have postponed or cancelled their cruise shows.

The show had originally been scheduled to be staged on May 9 in Lecce, an ancient city in Puglia (the region that forms the heel of the Italian peninsula). Not only that, but two days before, on May 7, Chanel is also scheduled to hold a cruise runway show in Capri. Yet, for the moment, the Chanel brand has apparently not made a final decision on whether to stage its show on the island, which is located off Naples.

“As a preventive measure, in accordance with instructions from public authorities, and to reinforce the coordination of international directives, the House of Dior has decided to postpone its Cruise show in order to ensure the safety of all its employees, collaborators and guests,” Dior said in a statement issued to FashionNetwork.com.

“The new date for the show - initially scheduled to take place on May 9th in Lecce, Italy - will be announced in due course, in function of how the current situation evolves. Our thoughts are with everyone who is affected by this pandemic, all over the world,” Dior added.

Dior's most recent cruise show was held in April 2019 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Paris-based, French fashion house Dior now joins a list of major Italian fashion marques that have called off cruise shows scheduled for this spring: Gucci and Versace in the United States; Prada in Japan; Giorgio Armani in Dubai and Max Mara in Saint Petersburg.

Moreover, major runway seasons have also been cancelled or postponed in the past several weeks, including Tokyo's, Shanghai's, Beijing's and Sao Paulo's.