Dior Lady Art #9

Since 2016, Dior has hand-picked international artists and given them carte blanche to use the Lady Dior bag as a blank canvas. Each of these artists, whose practices span painting, sculpture, and embroidery, among others, then creates an art-object that’s museum-worthy and keeps cementing the legacy of Dior for future generations. For this year’s edition of the project, the Maison called Sara Flores, Jeffrey Gibson, Huang Yuxing, Liang Yuanwei, Danielle McKinney, Duy Anh Nhan Duc, Hayal Pozanti, the late Faith Ringgold, Vaughn Spann, Anna Weyant, and Woo Kukwon to transform the bag, likening their creativity to a metamorphosis process. Today, we speak with them to know more about what their inspiration, process, and collaborating with a historical Maison.

A figurative and still life oil painter who particularly enjoys “painting flowers, ribbons, and textured or patterned object surfaces,” the artist says of the collab with Dior: “I was excited and honoured to participate in this project alongside so many wonderful artists and designers. It was a labour of love.” The result is not only one, but two different bags: “The first incorporates sculpted and cast metal flowers based on the roses and daisies frequently depicted in my paintings. The second mimics a woodgrain pattern that can also be found in much of my work.” Using materials as varied as hard metals and soft silks, her take on the Lady Dior are wildly contrasting yet refined and very on brand.

“My universe is about connection, and the women I highlight are about all of us connecting on an emotional level. By collaborating with Dior, I can expand my network of interconnection out into the world,” Danielle says of working with the Maison. Working closely with the Ateliers, she highlights the commitment and attention to the detail of the artisans: “It was completely overwhelming to see them reproduce a painting I love and treasure into a wholly new medium. I felt their respect for my artistic vision.” And she adds: “The Dior team took feedback on what I felt was most important to emphasise from my painting: the red fingernails, the butterfly, the central figure. They worked with me every step of the way to ensure the bag felt true to my universe.”

Basing his work on the botanical world, Duy Anh Nhan Duc says that his palette “is made up exclusively of wild plants collected according to the seasoning and, for the most part, in the immediate vicinity of my studio.” That’s why it was important to him that his take on the Lady Dior was as genuine as his entire oeuvre. “As with all my projects, I started from the harvesting phase so that I could work with real plants. […] The Dior teams reproduced the precise movement of the plants in my compositions, using a leather-pressing process,” he explains. The result changed the bag’s appearance “so that it would evoke the treasures of gathering,” but the artist admits that “the bag’s cannage was the source of inspiration from the start.”

For Hayal Pozanti, the collaboration with the Maison came very naturally. “I once read that Christian Dior described his New Look as an incarnation of ‘flower-like women.’ This idea resonates with my work in a very meaningful way,” she explains. With an instant connection, the artist wanted her reinterpretation of the bag to be based off of one of her paintings. “It was important to me to keep a sense of painting where we could. […] I wanted tactility to be at the forefront of my approach,” she explains. “I paint using my fingers,” she further clarifies. 

Fascinated by the Ateliers’ cutting-edge technologies and artisans skills, together developed ways to translate that tactility into the Lady Dior bag — via hand-crafted beading, morphing leather into a 3-D surface, or the innovative acrylic printing of a painting into a box — “a completely new method that Dior is launching for the first time.” 

“This bag symbolises a new love story between me and fashion, pushing the boundaries of my art even further,” the artist says about his take on the Lady Dior. “I combined some of my best ideas of the last few years with the exceptional savoir-faire of Dior.” With a vast archive of painting made with incredibly vivid neon colours, Huang Yuxing has worked on four different  bags, resulting in a small family of art-objects. “Combining my work(s) and this support, namely bags, entails taking on a challenge of recreation and (re)composition. The selection process of materials, the exchanges with the artisans who make these accessories and the exploration of different options inspired me tremendously.”

If you love maximalism, then Jeffrey’s work will definitely speak to you. “This Lady Dior is adorned with more than seventy unique hart-shaped punctuations that haven been digitally printed. Each one has been sewn onto the bag so that they cluster and fill the surface.” And besides that, the other three sides have been hand beaded, the bag also includes coloured charms “to match the beadwork and the different leathers that have been use.d” Based on a previous work of his inspired by a Grace Jones song, Love Is the Drug, Jeffrey’s is a colourful celebration of the convergence between art and high fashion.

The Korean artist’s work “focuses on the gap between reality and fantasy,” and his take on the Lady Dior bag is no different. Working mainly with oil painting, he wanted his take on the famed accessory to reflect his practice as genuinely as possible. “When the existing oil material is projected onto the bag, it changes to a different material, and when the material called canvas on which the picture is drawn is reflected in a trapezoidal small bag, there is curiosity and anticipation about how the work will look,” he says of the process. “I worked using only oil. At first, I tried to apply the material using only brushes. As I continued, my work developed by using new tools.”

The Chinese artist isn’t new to the Dior family; actually, the Maison acquired a commissioned artwork of hers in 2011, and then showcased it in numerous exhibitions worldwide. Now, they’re back to collaborating with her — only this time, the commissioned work is a new Lady Dior inspired by her Golden Notes series. 

“It employs the impasto technique, leading to a relief-like texture. The design began with 3D scanning my work,. followed by breaking down the brushtrukes into puzzles. These puzzles were later 3D printed in resin and then manually assembled onto velvet fabric to recreate the image,” Liang says about the intricate and artisanal process behind it. “The body of the bag refers to the Celadon green in Ru ware from the Song dynasty, resembling a porcelain piece. […] The bag accessories in the colour of antique gold are a nod to the gilding technique on the rim of the Ru ware bowls.”

“My work is a portal to the spiritual dimension. The order of the patterns can be understood as a visual manifesto of the commitment to the core values of the Shipibo-Conbio’s ethics,” artist Sara Torres explains of her practice — the art of kené, a sophisticated design system characteristic of her indigenous community. “This art form expresses our cosmovision, matriarchal culture, and ethnobotanical knowledge,” she continues. 

Speaking from her heart, she admits to not knowing the Maison before they first contacted her. “In total honesty, I didn’t know about the House of Dior prior to the recent invitation to visit its ateliers and its iconic address, 30 Montaigne, in Paris. I really enjoyed the visit and was impressed by the attention to the detail,” she says. So, after getting to know the Maison’s savoir faire and speaking to the artisans, she finally made two different bags. “I replaced the cannage patterns with my own, more complex kené designs. According to legend, the sacred patterns of kené were revaled to us, Shipibo women.” Something that Monsieur Dior, who had a penchant for magic, astrology and knowledge, would’ve loved.

Working on wildly different models, the American artist’s collab is probably the most different. “The bags don’t function as a series, nor as a group,” Vaughn clarifies. “I wanted them to feel at odds with one another aesthetically so that there was greater potential for utilitarian use. Each bag can serve its own purpose.” Highly textured, with colours such as red, blue, or black, and even a model featuring a briefcase handle – “The handle of my X bag is completely unique. I believe it’s the first time you’ll see briefcase-style handle on a Lady Dior bag,” he laughs –, Vaughn’s work is as unpredictable as himself.