Dior at El Badi Palace — Dior Cruise 2020 Show (2019)

El Badi Palace in Marrakech hosted Dior’s Cruise 2020 runway show in its torch-lit courtyard.

The venue

El Badi Palace is a ruined 16th-century royal palace in Marrakech, commissioned by Saadian Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur and now a tourist site. Its vast courtyard is framed by terracotta colonnades and centred on a long reflecting pool, giving the venue an open, monumental layout that is normally visited as heritage architecture rather than used for staged events.

How the space was used

For the Cruise 2020 show, the courtyard became a runway route around the pool, with hundreds of torches lighting the colonnades and rain falling during the presentation. Guests were seated within the historic shell, and models circled the water, turning the palace’s central axis into the show’s main circulation and viewing line.

Why it works here

A ruined royal courtyard gives fashion presentations a ready-made monumental backdrop and a clear central processional route. The palace’s open-air plan and colonnades frame spectators and models without requiring a conventional stage, while its heritage status lends the event a sense of place that a neutral hall cannot.