The metaphor of the circus has such a history in fashion—the performance, the costumes, the glitter, the constant traveling. Maria Grazia Chiuri immersed herself in research for her Spring haute couture show—circus depictions in Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Cindy Sherman, and Richard Avedon’s Dovima with Elephants, which he shot in Paris’s Cirque d’Hiver circa 1955. Chiuri also came across intensely hand-sequined costumes made by Gérard Vicaire, who has recently died: “He had a workshop here in Paris. It was all hand-embroidered—it’s really couture!” @dior