From minimalist to maximalist designs, the 4th edition of Lady Dior Art are not just arm candies — they make worthy art investments too.
For many, a handbag is a practical accessory. But for some collectors, handbags are not just about function — they’re as precious as an expensive piece of art.
Christian Dior is a big advocate to this philosophy, and for the past three years, the brand has invited renowned and upcoming artists to redesign its classic “Lady Dior” bag. The pieces are extremely limited, and it’s only available for sale worldwide, in January 2020.
The Dior Lady Art initiative gives artists total creative control over the Lady Dior bag. In its fourth instalment, Dior appointed 11 artists and utilised their expertise and skills from their diverse cultural backgrounds to customise the handbag. These artists worked on a variety of techniques — like quilting, embroidery, patchwork and printing.
Growing up in New York City, Indian-born artist Rina Banerjee loved fashion and used to make her own clothes. Her fashion designs were just as colourful and imaginative as her art work. The artist who is based in New York City always had a preference for working with diverse materials. From African tribal jewellery to an assortment of colourful feathers, fabrics and glass beads — as seen on her Lady Dior masterpiece made from transparent nylon embroidery with glass beads, moonstones, cowry shells and hand-embroidered leaves.
Those who love decorative pieces will also be equally fascinated with South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga and African-American visual artist Mickalene Thomas’s versions of the Lady Dior.
Ruga’s designs evoked a darker side with a ghostly 3-D self-portrait composed of pearls, framed by crystals, fabric and metal flowers embroidered on a black background. Thomas’s Lady Dior however was a composed of pretty patchwork designs largely inspired by Christian Dior’s love for flowers as well as her vision of femininity and beauty through the prism of art history, pop culture and her black American origins.
On the other end of the spectrum, fashion and art enthusiasts who are drawn to streamlined and linear silhouettes may be inclined to purchase French artist Marguerite Humeau’s creative masterpiece. Inspired by a funeral urn made from a mysterious mix of alabaster and rock crystals that she spotted at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, her Lady Dior bag showed a more futuristic side. In fact, Humeau exclaimed — of her Lady Dior which resembles “a mutating sculpture” — in an interview that this her “the first time the bag had been deformed to that extent”. This is also the first time Dior has created a 3-D-printed bag which resembles a wave-like object made from rigid corn resin.
From funeral urns to coffins, Chinese conceptual painter Wang Guangle was inspired by his painting series, “Coffin paint”. For his Lady Dior series, Wang’s take although colourful and iridescent, was also minimalistic, as the irregular lines carved from glossy leather and clear acrylic handles suggest.
A collection of vivid illustrations, intricate 3D artworks to clean and beautiful lines, the Lady Dior Art fourth edition handbags are definitely a sight to behold.
Images courtesy of Dior, artwork by Curatediton. All rights reserved.
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