Chiara Ferragni’s subversive dresses by Dior: recapturing freedom

Being influential is often measured by the fierce pressure felt in return. What the famous Sanremo Festival - a popular and mediatized show dedicated to Italian song talents - showcased this year is unique. The famous influencer Chiara Ferragni - who has more than 29 million followers - amazed the audience as she stood on stage during one of the festival's soirées wearing highly vocal outfits chosen to present the evening. One of them, a Dior dress (among other creations of the brand), featured the inscription "Pensati libera" (think yourself free) embroidered prominently on a white stole, the result of a collaboration between Dior's artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and the artist collective Claire Fontaine, whose work was covered by all the media. A performance that contributed to the success of the festival, whose audience ratings had not been this high since 1995.

As in any successful media coup, controversy quickly emerged. The debate focused on the creator of the message, which may have been imagined in Genoa by the street artist Cicatrici Nere. Beyond the notion of ownership, it is above all a work that has given new lengths to the power of fashion, which not only showcases aesthetics but is also starting a social and cultural debate on female empowerment. This scope is all the more remarkable as the performance was delivered by a personality who knows success - Chiara Ferragni - who wishes to talk about her experience through style, and who does not deny worrying about the excess of overexposure.

The Claire Fontaine duo, or rather the artistic collective founded by James Thornhill and Fulvia Carnevale, was born in Paris in 2004. Established since 2017 in Palermo, the duo is known for its neo-conceptual vision, always challenging contemporary capitalism and the political and cultural system with irony and depth. In an exclusive interview, the Claire Fontaine duo tells us about the birth and evolution of this project, but also the long journey towards the possibility of freedom.

Let's start with Chiara Ferragni, the star influencer, who showed her fragility on Instagram after her performance. Can freedom make you cry?

In her post, Chiara Ferragni does not cry because of the freedom she enjoys or would like to enjoy, but because of excessive physical and psychological pressure. She probably chose to talk about it for the same reasons that led her to share her strength, as well as her fragility on the Sanremo stage. It is certainly an example of freedom: not to live paralyzed by the desire to be accepted, even when one's main business is based on the approval and affection of the public. Showing one's vulnerability remains taboo for successful women rather than for men; men have much to learn from this. Instead of rejecting these phenomena, calling it embarrassing or exhibitionist, they could think about it.

Do you think there is a real form of freedom in capitalist societies?