The House of Christian Dior has long championed women empowerment, arguably more so during the tenure of Maria Grazia Chiuri as its creative director. In conjunction with International Women’s Day today, the French Maison has unveiled the second chapter of its Dior Stands With Women campaign, highlighting the stories and voices of exceptional women who have marked its history.
Continuing its partnership with the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), the campaign features a new series of portraits, films and “liberated words” that celebrate femininity while symbolising courage and self-confidence.
The video portraits also serve to represent Dior’s commitment to finance the higher education of young people selected for the outreach’s scholarship program, in collaboration with UCLA Center for World Health and Studytrust. The scholarships will cover 4 years of tuition fees, as well as accommodation, food, books, computers and travel expenses, additional tutoring and leadership training course for 15 students.
Having met with two South African young girls from the 2019 intake, namely Chevario Swanepoel and Nokwanda Mantshintschi, Charlize describes them as “determined, passionate, inspired and inspiring” – representing the spirit of the initiative Dior will be supporting for the 2021 intake.
Alongside actress, producer and brand ambassador Charlize Theron, the luminaries fronting the campaign to “chin up” and share their personal journeys include Chinese actress and singer Li Bingbing; American actress, director and producer Natalie Portman; American model Dilone; American actress, producer and activist Yara Shahidi, South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim; Iranian-French architect, designer and scenographer India Madavi; and Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist Leila Slimani.
View the gallery below to discover the portraits and stories of each titular heroine.
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Photos courtesy of Dior