Dilone Speaks on Authenticity and Inclusion in Dior's International Women's Day Campaign
As part of its #DiorStandsWithWomen and #DiorChinUp initiative, Dior gives voice to extraordinary women by unveiling its star-studded campaign of short films on International Women's Day. After releasing videos of Cara Delevingne, Parris Goebel, and Paloma Elsesser last September, the Avenue Montaigne Maison offers a new series of portraits and testimonies by passionate women, who all, in their own way, seek to have an impact on the world.
In the series of videos, Dior gives the floor to Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Kim Yuna, India Mahdavi, Yara Shahidi, Li Bingbing, Leïla Slimani, and Dilone. Having walked the catwalks of Victoria's Secret, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi, Dilone is a New York-based model who wants to make fashion a more equitable industry. In her clip, she uses #DiorStandsWithWomen and #DiorChinUp to talk about the struggles women, particularly Black and brown women, face in modeling and the world at large.
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"Whether in the acting industry or modeling industry, or most industries actually, there's this shelf life [for how long] a woman is considered to be valuable," she explains in her powerful testimony, discussing not only feminist issues, but also white privilege and racism. "There's so much coming at women, and in order to keep this balance of being true to yourself, and being authentic, while also maintaining this allure and this gaze, you just constantly have to check in with yourself," the model underlines as she confronts the keys of engaging in the feminist struggle while avoiding the pitfalls of "performance."
"Am I being authentic to myself? Or am I being a product of what society wants me to be? It's very challenging. I find that being authentic is constantly checking in with yourself. Who am I doing this for if not for myself?” she asks before speaking out on race-based privelege (and lack thereof) in the fashion industry.
She continues, "I think that the best way for a woman to keep her chin up is by embracing who you are. The good and the bad, the flaws, everything. Whatever weird way society says is imperfect, embracing that and saying 'Well, this is who I am!'"
Along with these new testimonies, the House of Dior is continuing its action with the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project, created in 2007 to support a network of educational organizations working with young people in sub-Saharan African countries to preserve their health and educational prospects.
Dior made a specific commitment from the first series of #DiorStandsWithWomen and #DiorChinUp portraits to fund the university studies of young people selected for the CTAOP Youth Leaders Scholarship program, in partnership with UCLA Center for World Health and Study Trust. The program intends to support the studies of the leaders of tomorrow who are mostly young women hailed for their involvement and commitment in their local communities.
Despite the global pandemic, which is particularly serious in South Africa, the allocation of these scholarships is ongoing. Soon, they'll be able to cover four years of tuition, accommodation, dining, books, a computer, travel, as well as the financing of individual tutoring and a leadership training for 15 students.
