Since 2016, Dior has invited artists into its universe to help fashion new interpretations of the French house’s Lady Dior bag. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Dior Lady Art commission. It returns with 10 international artists and collectives offering their talents to imagine new editions of the iconic accessory.
Olga Titus, photo © Florian Kalotay, courtesy of Dior.
In past collaborations we’ve seen the chic, rectangular handbag transformed through the work of names like Polly Apfelbaum, Mickalene Thomas, Janaina Tschäpe, Raqib Shaw, Kohei Nawa, Lee Bul, and Marguerite Humeau. Much as the modern woman is constantly reinventing herself, the artists have each reconfigured the Lady Dior through their own creative lens, beginning with the quintessential handbag silhouettes originally debuted in 1995—including large, full, and mini-sized iterations—as a starting point.
This year, the collection continues, with new styles dreamed up by Judy Chicago, Bharti Kher, Song Dong, Claire Tabouret, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Gisela Colon, Recycle Group, Chris Soal, Mai-Thu Perret, and Olga Titus. Ranging from matte black calfskin and oil slick patent leather to iridescent hypnotic motifs and embossed floral imagery, the fabrications, color, imagery, and inspirations are endless. The artists have designed handbags that surpass the simplicity of an accessory, merging fashion into wearable works of art and reflecting their personal practices, ideas, and ethos.
Joel Andrianomearisoa, photo © Marion Berrin, courtesy of Dior.
“I like to think of clothing as a form of expression. The body becomes a moving sculpture in the public space,” said the French artist Claire Tabouret. Known for her evocative figurative paintings, Tabouret explores themes of youth, vulnerability, and relationships. “I reinterpreted [the Lady Dior bag] as a blank canvas. A space of constraint where total freedom is possible.”
The feminist artist Judy Chicago reveals a design featuring a high-frequency dichroic technical fabric and shell-reminiscent swirling design. Chicago began her practice in a time when female artists could not express themselves freely, and it has been her mission to educate, inspire, and empower her viewers in order to pave the way for women in a male-dominated world. Following the artist’s recent collaboration with Dior’s creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, for the Spring/Summer 2020 Haute Couture set, Chicago’s colorful composition for Dior Lady Art is imbued with her signature sensual, curving lines and feminine energy. “The house of Dior has helped to demonstrate that fashion can be a means of empowerment for women,” said Chicago. “It has been very exciting to work with Maria Grazia and the Dior team to create an unusual method of literally bringing my art into the hands of many women.”
Mai-Thu Perret in the studio, photo © Valentin Hennequin, courtesy of Dior.
In a play of inside versus out, the Chinese artist Song Dong’s Window bag offers a look into the wearer’s culture, interests, and tastes—as a window allows a look into a building—through a configuration of tiny wood-framed glass panes. Referencing Dong’s past works, such as his “Usefulness of Uselessness” and “Parasitic” series, the artist has approached this take on the Lady Dior bag as a philosophical study, observing that an object of desire can act as both a reflection and a bridge between the user and itself. “As a fashion object, the ‘bag’ is actually a portable piece of art, and its spirit and function coexist,” said Dong. “I hope that this ‘bag’ will be seen as a bag carrying ideas and concepts, and that it will not only carry ‘things inside the bag’ but also ‘things outside the bag.’”
Bharti Kher, photo © Justin Keene, courtesy of Dior.
Bharti Kher’s practice is heavily influenced by her Indian heritage and typically incorporates the versatile form of the bindi, which is now a sort of trademark for the artist. “I think nature is always our biggest teacher,” said Kher. “I like that there is something primordial about the snake form; it is material, motif, and message all wrapped up in one. The possibilities of a singular form are so many.” Here taking the shape of a snake motif—one of Kher’s favorite symbols, for its representation of the life force, transformation, and healing—the artist has adorned her edition of the Lady Dior in a funky bindi-informed embossing made of the tiny squiggly reptiles, which come together in a lively floral burst that decorates a black silhouette, complete with matte charms spelling out the word “Dior.”
The fifth-anniversary Dior Lady Art commissions also include two versions that highlight the vulnerability of human relationships featuring painted imagery by Tabouret, Soal’s textural exploration of the connections between urban life and ecology, a kaleidoscopic homage to family heritage from Titus, and more.
Recycle Group, photo © Marion Berrin, courtesy of Dior.
