At Monsieur Dior’s private Provençal haven, Château de la Colle Noire, Victoire de Castellane staged her newest haute‑joaillerie reverie for the house. Titled “Diorexquis,” the gem‑studded collection was presented during a runway show, led by models wearing haute couture garments designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri. Silvery tulles, petal‑layered organza, and inky velvet gowns served as luminous canvases, allowing necklaces and earrings to dance with the midnight light.
A Triptych of Dior Dreams by Victoire de Castellane
Photo by Adrien Dirand, courtesy of Dior.
For “Diorexquis,” De Castellane distills the house founder’s twin passions—botany and celebration—into three intertwined tableaus. First, “Enchanted Landscapes” offers necklaces with stones carved in relief against marble‑smooth hardstone, with borders frosted with micro‑pavé diamonds. Then, “Delicate Bouquets” includes rings and brooches with tourmaline petals, spinel stamens, and opal doublets that flash with sunrise coloring, echoing Dior’s lifelong devotion to roses. Finally, “Magical Balls” includes earrings and bracelets that capture the effervescence of a masked soirée, like enamel panes glowing like stained‑glass lanterns.
Volume is the collection’s secret language. Compositions rise and dip like garden terraces, layering sugar‑loaf sapphires over translucent opals. Colors guide the passing seasons—from aquamarines for dawn in spring to sun‑struck citrines for midsummer, and imperial rubellites for autumn twilight. Each palette shift nods to Dior’s belief that “haute couture begins with the dream,” as he said in the past.
The Craft Behind “Diorexquis”
Courtesy of Dior.
Courtesy of Dior.
“Diorexquis” was crafted by an incredible collection of artisanal methods. Stone‑setters have perfected near‑invisible claws; goldsmiths have coaxed impossible curves from rose‑gold vines; and enamellers have suspended color in filigree fine enough to let starlight pass through. The result is a collection that feels alive—breathing, blooming, and on the cusp of a celebration. With “Diorexquis,” de Castellane invites us to linger in Dior’s eternal night garden, one where every petal is paved with diamonds.
About Château de La Colle Noire
Photo by Adrien Dirand, courtesy of Dior.
The Château de La Colle Noire is a property located at the entrance of the Pays of Fayence, on the border of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var region. It is built on a promontory overlooking the plains of Montauroux. The chateau is surrounded by a park with a chapel dedicated to St Anne. The ensemble dates from the middle of the 19th century and was entirely redesigned by Christian Dior from 1950. It has been the property of Parfums Christian Dior since 2013.
Christian Dior entrusted the restoration and renovation of La Colle Noire from 1955 to the Russian architect Andreï Svetchine. His friends Raymonde Zehnacker in Mougins and Marc Chagall in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Saint-Paul-de-Vence had also solicited this architect, specialized in the transformation of “rural dwellings, neither simple farms nor real castles”. He considered that the architectural balance was enough to decorate a house and thus the stonework was laid bare, the perspectives restored and enlarged, the accesses redesigned including the transformation of the service wing into a main entrance with an end resemblance of an 18th-century Bastide.
Photo by Adrien Dirand, courtesy of Dior.
Planted with cypress trees, a walkway leads to the hexagonal entrance hall, an atrium designed by Christian Dior himself, where the Provençal calade floor has a pattern of compass rose dear to his childhood in Normandy. The south facade is asymmetrical and is in the 1940-50’s Provençal style. The chateau is reflected in the 45 meters long ornamental water mirror, also designed by Christian Dior, showing a contrast between the sinuosity of the landscape and the rigor of its straight lines.
About Victoire de Castellane
Courtesy of Dior.
Courtesy of Dior.
Victoire de Castellane is a celebrated French jewelry designer, known for her work as the Creative Director of Dior Joaillerie since 1998. Born in 1962, she began her career at Chanel, working with Karl Lagerfeld and eventually overseeing the house’s costume jewelry for 14 years. Her designs are characterized by a playful use of color, narrative storytelling, and a personal touch influenced by her family history and her own childhood.
“I wanted to capture the sensation of ethereal lightness and the haute couture signature of lace which, like ribbons, silk, and draping, is essential to the Dior lexicon,” said jewelry designer Victoire de Castellane in a previous interview with Whitewall.
Photo by Adrien Dirand, courtesy of Dior.
