Remember When Madama Butterfly Transformed Dior?

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On February 17, 1904, Giacomo Puccini premiered what is now considered one of the greatest operas of all time at the renowned La Scala opera house in Milan: Madama Butterfly. Interestingly, while Puccini felt throughout his life that it was among his best works, his first version of Madama Butterfly was famously a fiasco; he revised and re-premiered on May 28th of that year with the version we know and love today. On the anniversary of the work’s release, 115 years later, CR remembers the tragic origins of Madama Butterfly and how it influenced one of the most storied Parisian fashion houses of all time.

Based on the short story “Madam Butterfly” by John Luther Long, the subsequent play it inspired by David Belasco, and, arguably, the novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly follows the story of the cavalier Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, a U.S. naval officer stationed in Japan, who marries a former geisha, Cio-Cio San. He obtains a 999-year lease on a house in Nagasaki harbor and places her there, able to end both the lease and the marriage with a month’s notice. Shortly after they wed, Pinkerton abandons Cio-Cio San, only to return three years later with an American wife. When Cio-Cio San learns Pinkerton wants to take the son he fathered with her back to America, Cio-Cio San ends her life. It is a heart-wrenching tale of love and betrayal that has inspired countless art forms since its premieres in 1904, like plays (including M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, which comments on the gender and racial inequities in the original story), film, and, of course, fashion.

In 2007, John Galliano celebrated the founding of Dior as well as the 10th year of his own tenure at the fashion house with a Spring/Summer Couture collection called Japanese New Look. Constructed in just six weeks, Galliano drew inspiration from the legendary opera, specifically Pinkerton’s affair with Cio-Cio San. Galliano reinvented Dior’s iconic New Look with influences from Japan: kimonos, origami, illustration, obis, and more appeared in the collection as salutes to the culture that inspired it. The collection featured an elegant, yet bold color palette with gentle cream tones alongside bright peonies and lime greens, all made stylish with impeccable geometric detailing and illustration. Headpieces of everything from bonsai trees to cherry blossoms were designed by milliner Stephen Jones, and modernized geisha makeup referencing Cio-Cio San was constructed by the famed Pat McGrath.

While today Galliano’s choice would probably be deemed problematic in light of cultural appropriation (not to mention having white models don geisha makeup), his collection was hailed by the fashion press at the time for its operatic inspiration and appreciation, especially as the soundtrack to Madama Butterfly played over the speakers. In Puccini’s eyes at least, the collection would have been far from a fiasco.

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