A-list celebs, an Outlander castle, and high fashion as Dior brings star-studded show to Crieff

Models on the catwalk during French couturier Christian Dior's 1955 fashion show at the Central Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland. The designer flew eight models, six staff and 172 dresses to Scotland for two shows, one in Glasgow and one at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, to raise money for the Friends of France, an organisation, which organises exchange visits for Scottish and French school children. Original publication: Picture Post Scottish edition - 7765 - Dior In Scotland - published, 21st May 1955. (Photo by Thurston Hopkins/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

From 8pm tonight, Crieff will be the centre of the universe as far as glamour is concerned.

Luxury fashion label Dior is visiting the Perthshire town, in order to present its Cruise 2025 show in the al-fresco spot of Drummond Gardens, where the weather forecast has predicted light showers and a gentle breeze.

Until this evening, the collection, created by their designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, is under wraps that are pulled tighter than a vintage corset.

French fashion designer Christian Dior (1905 - 1957) with one of his models backstage at his 1955 fashion show at the Central Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland. The designer flew eight models, six staff and 172 dresses to Scotland for two shows, one in Glasgow and one at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, to raise money for the Friends of France, an organisation, which organises exchange visits for Scottish and French school children. Original publication: Picture Post Scottish edition - 7765 - Dior In Scotland - published, 21st May 1955. (Photo by Thurston Hopkins/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The first public (well, invite only) sighting of Chiuri’s silhouettes will be when the models are flitting along the runway, and presumably winding their choreographed way through this formal garden, which dates from the 17th century and has Drummond Castle as its beautiful backdrop.

Former Harper's Bazaar editor and novelist, Justine Picardie, who has a longstanding relationship with Dior and has been involved in this occasion, explains why Crieff has been chosen.

“It’s the perfect setting. I first went with my husband when I was living in Scotland,” says the author of books including Miss Dior: A Wartime Story of Courage and Couture. “It’s often described as one of the most beautiful gardens in Scotland, but I think it’s one of the most beautiful in the world. It’s just magical.”

Mannequins walking down the 64 foot catwalk during the grand finale of Christian Dior's 1955 fashion show at a ball in Gleneagles. The designer insured his collection for £60,000 and flew 172 dresses (worth about £300 each), eight models, three organisers and three dressers from Paris to Scotland in order to raise money for the Friends of France which organises exchange visits for Scottish and French school children. The spectacular shows, at Glasgow and Gleneagles, proved very popular and raised £4,000 for the charity. Original Publication: Picture Post - 7765 - Dior In Scotland - pub. 1955 (Photo by Thurston Hopkins/Getty Images)

This won’t be the first time the design house has shown its collections in this country. Picardie is very pleased about their return.

“I was delighted and it’s something that I’ve been very keen should happen for a long time,” she says.

The most recent Dior visits were to Scone Palace in Perth, for a charity fashion show in 1960, and a similar event, in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Foundation, to Gosford House in Longniddry, in 1961.

In 1951 and 1955, fashion designer and founder of the house, Christian Dior, came to Glasgow and, on the designer’s second visit, 172 looks were shown at The Central Hotel.

Justine Picardie (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Also in 1955, there was a presentation of that year’s spring summer collection at The Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder. The fashion show was punctuated with a dramatic wedding dress, featuring acres of gauze-y white fabric. This event also included a ball, in one of the luxury hotel’s grand chandelier-strung rooms.

Picardie explains that, when Christian Dior launched his house in 1947, it became famous for what the then editor of Harper’s Bazaar described as the ‘new look’. This was a reaction to wartime austerity, resulting in a ‘romantic, magical style, with long skirts and very feminine”.

It was these voluminous creations that were showcased at the Scottish events.

“Because I’ve done a lot of research in the Dior archives, having written several books that draw on those, I’d seen the pictures of the 1955 shows in Glasgow and Gleneagles and I read all the press coverage at the time,” says Picardie. “As you can imagine, the fact that the biggest fashion designer in the world should come here made headlines in Scotland as well as around the world. I’ve always thought that it would be a really wonderful thing for Dior to return and to work with Scottish textile makers and manufacturers.”

The gardens of Drummond Castle are the setting for the Dior show (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Christian Dior died in 1957, at the premature age of 52. After the Scottish shows, he had lingered here.

“He wrote that he stayed on in for a while, because he wanted to explore. He discovered the landscape, the castles and the beauty. So, clearly, his time after the shows was very meaningful to him,” says Picardie. “There’s always been that special relationship between France and Scotland that goes all the way back to Mary Queen of Scots and even before then. But Christian Dior clearly had that French Scottish feeling and I think Maria Grazie also feels as if she’s really responding to the beauty and power of Scotland.”

Picardie is a big fan of Chiuri’s work. This designer was named creative director of Dior in 2016, after stints at Fendi and Valentino. In the current world of fashion, it has ironically become quite rare to have a woman at the helm.

“Dior is an incredibly successful brand and it’s become more so over the last few years and I think that’s partially down to having a female designer, who’s designing for other women, and women of all ages,” says Picardie. “I think she’s absolutely brilliant, I love what she does. For every show, she works in a very authentic way, with textile makers, but also with somebody such as myself who’s done a lot of historical research. Her level of commitment is incredible, and the clothes that she designs are true to the story of Dior, but she also makes pieces that modern women want to wear.”

This author thinks fashion is most successful when it’s telling a story. And this return, of sorts, to a place and the rekindling of an auld alliance, is quite a tale.

“In my book about Dior, I said that when couture - and Dior is a Paris couture brand - is at its most brilliant, it can be like a line of poetry and capture an emotion or feeling. Fashion is really meaningful when it’s telling a story and for Dior to return to Scotland feels really important.”

This isn’t the first starry moment for Drummond Castle, where the outside space is a 19th century recreation of an original 17th century Scottish Renaissance garden, with an obelisk sundial that dates from 1630. It’s also appeared in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, Rob Roy with Liam Neeson and even had a visit from Queen Victoria in 1842.