Dior Cruise

So the main purpose of my recent trip to Morocco was to attend the Dior Cruise 2020 show. I still have to think about it twice every time I utter those words… It just doesn’t sound real, haha. …Thankfully, it was though! Dior organised and planned this event down to every little detail. It’s incredible how these things are put together and I’m in such awe of the people behind this well-oiled machine (I’ve always said that I would love to see a documentary about how one of these cruise shows are put together since there must be a million different things that goes into something like this).

Before this experience together with Dior begun, I thought I had seen some pretty cool things in my life. Turns out, they still managed to make my jaw drop to the floor. On multiple occasions. The welcome dinner was at a Moroccan palace in the middle of Marrakech (yup, you heard that right), which had about two thousand rooms filled with Moroccan tiles, greenery and little fountains along with musicians that they had placed throughout to welcome us while walking through this palace-labyrinth-mansion. There was Dior dresses from the archives hanging in some of the rooms, carefully lit and placed, before we reached the main dining space. At one point, I thought it was finished, and then I found another way to continue through this incredible place… It was… I think the only word that works for this experience would be “magical”.

The space where we shared couscous, multiple tagines and a few glasses of wine was decorated like something I have never seen before. Like something taken out of a fairytale. Like One Thousand and One Nights. Lanterns were hung everywhere from the ceilings, the plates were from Dior, handprinted menus were placed on each table and as if that wasn’t enough, I also had the pleasure of dining in a near proximity to Lupita Nyong’o. Yeah, it was a pretty incredible evening. I wish I could have taken you with me thought the whole evening but at least you can still get a glimpse of it through Stories on Instagram.

If our experience would have ended after the first night, it still would have been enough. But that’s not how Dior does things. The next day we did yoga in 36 degrees with an instructor flown into Marrakech. After the (hot-)yoga session we were treated to (Dior-)orange juices from a little stand set-up at our hotel. I mean… What can I say… Dior sure knows how to make a girl squeal out of excitement. It made me think of the very first Dior Cruise show that I ever photographed in Cannes, where the guests were served ice cream from a little Dior ice cream stand.

After getting changed we were off to do more activities. We visited the stunning (!) Villa Oasis, also known as Yves Saint Laurent’s home in Marrakech, Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent museum. I have never ever seen something like this in my entire life. The Villa Oasis took my breath away. Over and over again. Each corner was more spectacular than the next one. The colours, the architecture, the details, the garden, the interior, the flowers, the plants. I could go on and on… It’s funny but I feel as though I could see where companies and shops have gotten their interior, colour and garden inspiration from. Some corners of this place looks just as contemporary and “trendy” today as I’m sure they did back then. Timeless and absolutely unbelievable.

…And then it was time for the main event. At this point I thought that they had pulled out all of the tricks possible by now… How could it ever get any better?! *Shakes her head* I should have known it could get better. Much better. It’s Dior we’re talking about after all. Walking in to yet another palace in Marrakech my mind was completely and utterly blown away. I don’t even think I’m able to fully explain what the setting was like (thank god for Instagram Stories) but I’ll do my best since it truly deserves to be described.

They had lit fires everywhere. In. every corner. Along every little path. Including little lights in the water. Of course. It looked like the whole place was sparkling from afar… Every single detail, from the rugs in different patterns, to the Moroccan maid pillows we were sitting on, to the little bricks our names were written on to… well, I could go on and on. It was spectacular and again, I don’t even understand how something like this is put together. As I’m writing this, I think it would still be a time crunch to start planning next year’s show if they started this second. It must take months… Weeks… I’m just saying this because I want everyone to understand how well-organised and how well-planned these events must be in order to function and whoever (whoever probably being about 20 000 people) is involved in this process, I will bow down for. One of my very first jobs out of high school was at a PR agency organising tiny little events in Stockholm, so that part of me truly appreciates what goes into these kind of things, haha.

And after all of this gushing, I haven’t even gotten around to talking about the collection itself. Where to we begin… Well, I’m definitely not a writer and I can definitely not put it into words like other people did after the show, so I will refer you to a writer named Susie Bubble who explained the show so beautifully instead.

The colours, the textiles, the prints, the silhouettes and the story behind the collection were just so well put together and shown through an incredible number of looks. While the fires were burning the models walked (or floated, I’m not sure) down the runway with the powerful music playing in the background… To say that I had goosebumps is an understatement.

You thought that was it, didn’t you? Nope. If you think it sounds overwhelming, imagine how it was being on site when we heard “I’m coming up” playing from the stage during the afterparty. Ylenia and I looked at each other and said “ah, a cover band… Interesting choice for the performance”. After looking confused for a couple of seconds while the song was playing in the background, we both turned our heads and locked eyes as though we had seen a unicorn or something. Diana Ross was entering the stage and we both kind of fainted inside I think. Yeah, you read that right. Diana Ross performed under a starry sky in the middle of Marrakech after watching a Dior Cruise show walking down the runway.

Before leaving the afterparty, both Ylenia and I made sure to take a 94th look around the place before heading into the car… Just to be sure that we would remember this sight forever and ever. It was almost hard to go to bed once back at the hotel since my head was trying to process what I just had had the opportunity to experience… Luckily, exhaustion kicked in and I fell asleep like a little baby with hair still smelling from the many fires that evening.

The following day we heading into the Medina to enjoy brunch to end this wonderful experience. It was my first time walking around in the city centre and I’m so happy we had time to do this as well since it’s something I’ve been wanting to do since visiting Marrakech for the first time three years ago now. I mean, I most daintily have only seen a teeny tiny little part of it but I feel like it’s better than nothing at all!

I can’t even begin to explain how thankful, grateful, happy (all of those words) I am for having lived such a special experience in Marrakech together with Dior… I love looking through photos like this, once everything is over… Because it sort of helps me to realise what I’ve just gotten to live during the last couple of days.

• An experience provided by Dior – #Suppliedbydior • Photos by: Ylenia Cuéllar & myself (edited by me)