Rich in history, the Lady Dior bag has been reimagined by international artists now for six different collections. Spearheaded by creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, the project has called upon diverse groups of artists to integrate their own personal spin on the legendary Lady Dior bag. Transforming the iconic design, Dior Lady Art has included the works of Judy Chicago, Claire Tabouret, and more throughout its lifespan.
Created in 1995, the design was first dubbed the Chouchou bag before sky-rocketing in popularity after having been seen on the arm of Princess Diana. The handbag was gifted to Lady Di in 1995 by the then-First Lady of France, Bernadette Chirac amidst the opening of a Cézanne exhibit. Renamed in tribute to the handbag’s biggest fan, the Lady Dior bag has since become an integral style staple of the Dior assortment.
The 6th installment of Dior Lady Art will be broken up into two installments. With this group of six artists as part one, another six will round out the collection in a coming chapter. Now, Zhang Huan, Genieve Figgis, Gisela Colon, Lina Iris Viktor, Johan Creten, and Manal Al Dowayan will debut their pieces as the latest brigade of artists tasked with reimagining the iconic Lady Dior bag in their own image while maintaining the house’s unmatched craftsmanship in a limited-edition collection.
Here, GRAZIA gets to know the artists creatively shaking up the iconic Lady Dior bag.
Zhang Huan
A Chinese multi-media artist based between Shanghai and New York, the painter/ performance artist/ photographer/ and sculptor integrated his philosophies surrounding nature and life cycles into his customized Lady Dior creations. His two mini models paint a picture of Buddhist masks in a splashy landscape through intricately embroidered beads and sequins. Implementing an advanced 3D-printing technique for the faces resulted in a holographic effect in another iteration. Huan’s large Lady bag displays a reference from a Rembrandt painting. The female figure is meticulously rendered out of tribute to the traditional art of ancestral Chinese cabinetmaking.
Known for his grueling performance art, Huan also utilizes unorthodox materials in his work, from blood to ashes- even furthering his consistent themes tied to the realities of life and death. Lively, and electric, Zhang Huan’s collection of Lady Dior bags serves as a rebirth through art and design with energetic and otherworldly visuals and craftsmanship.
Genieve Figgis
Irish painter Genieve Figgis is one of a kind. With social media jump starting her career, Figgis’ unique and eccentric universe is splashed across her Instagram grid in bold colors, displaying a peculiar kind of opulence. Inspired by the works of French Rococo painters Jean-Honoré Fragonard and François Boucher, Figgis’ artistic vision falls somewhere near a candy-colored Tim Burton ambiance or Sophia Coppola’s pink frosted vision for Marie Antoinette through a distorted and happily disturbing lens. Often depicting royalty, Figgis has previously rendered a portrait of Princess Diana, for whom the Lady bag was named. “I had made a portrait of Lady Diana. So very coincidental, and maybe in the back of my mind, I had known all along that the bag was inspired by her.”
With her aesthetic simultaneously macabre and endearing, Figgis has created three bags for Dior, each with its own peculiar personality. A fierce tiger, an abstract house cat, and an intricate carnival gathering are all represented across the trio of embroidered handbags, respectively. With its nine lives, Figgis uses the feline as a symbol for survival, integrating the idea of coexistence and equality between humans and animals. Complete with a metallic bird trinket hanging alongside the iconic ‘DIOR’ charms, each bag was ethically constructed and made from vegan grape leather, resulting in a lower carbon footprint for a more environmentally friendly product.
Gisela Colon
A two-time participant of the Dior Lady Art project, Gisela Colon is back for her second round. “Celebrating the splendor of Egypt,” the LA-based contemporary artist has tied her new edition of handbags to her international exhibition Forever Is Now with Art d’Egypte, where her piece Eternity Now is featured amongst the pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Dubbing her work “Organic Minimalism,” Colon merges modern geometric and natural organic shapes and materials.
The luminescent golden Lady Dior bag calls upon the legends and talismans of ancient Egypt. Shielded with the Eye of Udjat, the bag’s center-fold garnet stone symbolizes the Egyption falcon god Horus’ protective eye, encased with rings of semi-precious stones. Inset with turquoise, dark blue lapis lazuli, and carnelian, Colon took inspiration from royal sarcophagi. With the lining etched with hieroglyphics, the handles mirroring an ancient necklace, and snake charms dangling about, the elements fuse to represent the deep rooted and powerful culture of Egypt.
Lina Iris Viktor
British-Liberian multi-disciplined visual artist Lina Iris Viktor marries ancient art with a contemporary ethos. A painter, sculptor, photographer, and performer, the New York-based conceptual artist merges her talents to create a layered tapestry of stimulating visuals. Viktor has reimagined the Lady Dior bags in her own image.
Conjuring the landscapes in her paintings, the bags are representative of the earth and sky awash in deep rich tones of black, ruby, midnight, and dark emerald leather. In the vein of Gustav Klimt, Viktor utilizes her signature metallic gold leaf in her paintings, mirrored by 3D hardware elements embossed on her creations. The golden metalware symbolizes the substantial histories of goldsmith techniques from across the globe. “When I was creating the Lady Dior bag, I wanted to take different bodies of work that I had been working on to create a very tactile surface. Basically layer those works on top of each other. So we have the flora from the “Dark Continents” and then the gold embellishments from the “Constellations” series.”
Johan Creten
Belgian artist Johan Creten has created two Lady Dior bag offerings, both heavily inspired by the life of bees. “I’m about what the bees represent as a kind of vision of a positive society. The bees- I saw them in Egypt as a representation of everything that’s constructive, and positive, and filled with energy.” Symbolizing working together as a society towards a common goal, Creten utilizes his specialization of ceramics to mold a luxe removable embellishment of bees, either to be sprawled across your Lady Dior limited edition, or to be worn as jewelry. Picking a textured suede in royal blue and a rich brown that reminded him of soil, the Paris-based artist has imbued the concept of a more harmonious existence through the power of art.
Manal Al Dowayan
Saudi Arabian contemporary artist, Manal Al Dowayan has reached back to her roots for her personal interpretation of the Lady Dior bag while simultaneously questioning the status-quo. The classic ‘DIOR’ charms have been revamped in Arabic lettering with her Saudi heritage in mind. Al Dowayan’s three bags touch upon three different themes pertaining to her own culture and identity.
With her sculptural rendition of the desert rose crystal, the multi-talented artist recalls how rare it is. As a desired and uncommon sensation, the novelty can be found in the desert right outside of her mother’s home, providing her family with an unprecedented accessibility to a coveted rarity.
With this creation being quite possibly the most personal, Manal Al Dowayan took inspiration from one of her past works, “Landscapes of the Mind.” Exploring her complicated relationships with palm trees and oil facilities, the artist manages to compose a balanced self-explorative commentary on socio-political events.
Placing a spotlight on Saudi Arabian youth, Al Dowayan questions the importance of counterculture in regards to societal advancement or evolution as a whole. Collaging and layering photographic imagery and metallic decals, the poignant piece calls to mind the juxtaposition between tradition and modernity in the form of a bag while forging a dialogue on what propels us towards progress. “Your identity lives in the now, in the present. And we have to address the things that sort of hold us back and look at the things that are moving us forward.”
