This past June, the London-based contemporary artist Marc Quinn was invited by the House of DIOR to revisit their iconic Lady Dior bag in a limited-edition collection. Now, the Dior Lady Art project has expanded the project with six new British and American artists, each of whom have put their own spin on the classic ladies handbag and accessories.
Originally designed in 1994 in the Dior workshops, its initial code name was “chouchou” or favorite. Two years later, it was baptised “Lady Dior” as a tribute to Princess Diana who fell in love with this unique accessory in a visit to Paris.
DIOR describes the iconic bag as a look worthy of a true Lady. “It is carried in the hand to add the finishing touch to a look that’s so Dior: An iconic bag from the House of Dior, the Lady Dior features the woven ‘cannage’ design found on the Napoleon III chairs that Christian Dior loved so dearly.” explains the website.
For the Dior Lady Art Project, Dior enlisted seven artists to use the architectural handbag as a canvas for their creative visions and as part of the limited-edition Dior Lady Art collection, launching Nov. 29 in Miami during Art Basel.
It began in June with artist Marc Quinn who created an entire collection for the brand.
Dior Lady Art Project
Marc Quinn:
Since Quinn, Matthew Porter, Jason Martin, Ian Davenport, Mat Collishaw, Daniel Gordon and Chris Martin have each created a version of the The Lady Dior bag.
Chris Martin:
Daniel Gordon:
“The project gives carte blanche to artists who have transposed their own creative universes into the Dior leatherworking language.” – Dior
Ian Davenport:
Jason Martin:
Matt Collishaw:
Matthew Porter:
In addition to the Lady Bag, each artist created several other pieces for the collection including evening bags, clutches, phone cases, scarves, keychains and bracelets.
Made in editions of less than 100 each, the handbags and accessories will be unveiled in the Miami boutique, in a pop-up store in Los Angeles, then in London, China, Dubai, Seoul and Paris.
images courtesy of DIOR Mag and WWD