When Dior creates clothing, be it for its runway shows or a collaboration with a video game, it cuts no corners. Highsnobiety took an exclusive in-depth look at the savoir-faire that informed Dior's forthcoming Gran Turismo 7 collaboration, from the ideation of the sneakers to the shape of the racing gear itself.
None of the Dior x GT7 clothing will be produced IRL, and yet its design process was no less involved than the creative labor involved in bringing a mainline Dior collection to life.
For instance, Dior's design team had to lay out the silhouettes of the exact garments they wished for Gran Turismo 7's developers, Polyphony Digital, to create in-game.
From the thematic helmets to the Oblique monogram-covered sneakers, Dior dug deep to merge house codes with actual racing tech.
For instance, the jumpsuit, gloves, and helmet are all executed in Dior gray, with contrasting yellow that unifies the gear's design. Nothing too crazy, hmmm?
However, look again at the number 47 printed on the chest, hand, and head — it's a subtle homage to the year that Dior was officially founded.
There's also a reference to Dior's archival CD Diamond pattern on the kit, plus a classic Dior atelier patch that really drives the motif home.
There's more Dior gear coming for Gran Turismo 7 but that's a good sample of what to expect when the collaboration is made available for the PlayStation game on August 25.
GT7 have proven mightily successful, reportedly raking in the approximation of nearly 200k copies sold in March 2022 alone, the month that it launched. It set a sales record for the entire franchise, in fact.
If Dior wanted to partner with a racing game series, it could do a lot worse.
Of course, Dior's Gran Turismo 7 collection is only the latest in a long line of luxury fashion/video game crossovers.
From Prada's skiiwear skins to Balenciaga's all-encompassing Fortnite gear, these kinds of team-ups are no longer novelty but honest-to-god moneymakers.
In terms of the conglomerates, Kering's fashion houses have proven particularly keen on both gaming and Web3 activations, with Tiffany & Co. and Tag Heuer leading the charge for LVMH in terms of the latter.
Louis Vuitton has dabbled a smidge but Dior has kept its distance for now.
I wouldn't expect Dior's Gran Turismo 7 collection to immediately break the house's mold, but Dior Men's Artistic Director Kim Jones is savvy in the ways of youth culture. This is not the last time we're gonna see the house that Christian built dabbling in digital frontiers.
