THE GREEK BAR JACKET Greek Film Festival

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https://greekfilmfestival.com.au

Date Reviewed: 13/10/2022

The Bar jacket got its name from a bar in the Plaza Athénée that Monsieur Dior frequented. This thing has become a landmark for the House: only Christian himself created variations for 22 couture collections.

Constructed in cream silk shantung, the jacket was sculpted to fit snugly above a narrow waist, then flare into a scalloped basque, which was meticulously padded, stiffened and weighted to accentuate the hipline. Paired with a very full skirt, it was dubbed the New Look by the press — and set off a sartorial revolution.

After the death of Dior, the legacy passed into the hands of Yves Saint Laurent. He lengthened and almost dissolved the jacket in a new silhouette, which he called the "trapezoid line", moving away from unrealistic feminine figures.

Filmmaker Marianna Economou was given complete carte blanche to follow the conceptualization and realization of the Dior Cruise 2022 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri. The result is The Greek Bar Jacket, an exploration of the collaborations, influences, moments and emotions that have made this Greece-inspired collection so unique. 

The documentary opens in the Peloponnese city of Argos at tailor Aristeidis Tzonevrakis’ workshop. The tailor reinterpreted the Bar jacket, an iconic piece that symbolizes the New Look revolution.

The show’s setting was at Athen’s Panathenaic Stadium, where Economou meets actors from the event to retrace Chiuri’s creative process. It is “a synergy of excellence, a virtuoso conversation between the exceptional savoir-faire of the Dior Ateliers and Greek artisans.”

Economou then travels to Soufli, located in eastern Macedonia and the Thrace region, visiting the Silk Line factory operated by Kostas Mouhtaridis and Dimitra Kolotoura.

It is here that the Parisian house’s featherlight silk fabrics are made. Capturing illustrator Christiana Soulou’s creations that are transposed into dresses, Economou also visits the island of Thasos. In the capital the work of Dior milliner Stephen Jones, the Benaki Museum’s N.E.M.A.  Tsalavoutas workshop, the documentarian highlights the iconic tailor.

The most fascinating parts of this documentary are the glimpses into the workshop to see the unrelenting perfectionism of the Dior brand. I will never look at a Dior garment or accessory the same way again!

Reviewed by Barry Hill