Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Inspired Dior’s Feminist Collection at Paris Fashion Week

Often, when you hear about “inspiration” at European and New York fashion weeks, it’s for some horribly misguided shit that went down. Remember last month when Marc Jacobs defended white models wearing dreadlocks at his NYFW show with this knee-jerk response?

Here’s some inspiration we can get behind.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has emerged as one of the stars of Paris Fashion Week. Why? The Nigerian novelist, writer and feminist icon is said to be the inspiration for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s ready-to-wear spring 2017 Dior collection and show. Chiuri, Dior's first female creative director in the fashion powerhouse's 70-year history, brought unabashed feminism to the runway on Friday.

"I strive to be attentive and open to the world and to create fashion that resembles the women of today," she said in her show notes, according to the Washington Post.

One design that stood out was a t-shirt with the words “WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS,” the name of the groundbreaking speech Adichie gave at a 2013 TedxEuston talk and subsequently developed into a book-length essay published in 2014. (Although there's still no word on how much one of these feminist couture tees will set you back.)

At one point, Chiuri had her models walk the runway to “Flawless,” Beyoncé’s girl-power anthem that famously featured excerpts from Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists.” And according to the Washington Post, excerpts from the speech echoed throughout the show's soundtrack.

Adichie watched on from the front row.

Glad that Dior had Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as a guest at the SS2017 show and featured her words on the runway. #weneedafashionrevolution pic.twitter.com/RpcjXP5clu

— Septembre Anderson (@SeptembreA) October 1, 2016

Chimamanda Adichie (in a Fia Factory dress) outside the Musee Rodin after the @Dior show in Paris today #DiorSS17 pic.twitter.com/LYMOaWeBbd

— Ike Anya (@ikeanya) September 30, 2016

@Dior boards the Adichie train pic.twitter.com/UqWSGaU7sP

— Adil Habib (@Adiloo) September 30, 2016

We were pleased to see Chimamanda Adichie's 2012 @TEDxEuston talk make an appearance on the @Dior catwalk today #DiorSS17 https://t.co/hMyN7DvrrN

— TEDxEuston (@TEDxEuston) September 30, 2016

Look at @Dior and Maria Grazia Chiuri channelling #Chimamanda. #PFW #SS17 goes literary chic pic.twitter.com/qS3IquadbM

— Natasha Nyanin (@natashanyanin) September 30, 2016