Dior Lady Art

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to the eagerly anticipated ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art.In the latest episode, Peruvian artist Sara Flores approaches the Lady Dior as a global canvas to promote Kené, the ancient visual language of the Shipibo-Conibo people, indigenous to the Ucayali River in the Peruvian Amazon. Traditionally applied as body painting and on ceramic and textiles intended for clothing, using local plant-based pigments such as turmeric and annatto, the painstaking artistic practice of Kené is passed down by mothers to daughters. Flores’ intricate geometric paintings of labyrinths, images that come to her in visions triggered by psychoactive plants grown in the jungle, reflect the complex interconnected web of life found within the Amazonian rainforest. For Dior Lady Art, Flores celebrates the traditions of her people with two unique handbags directly inspired by her Kené designs, crafted from vegan pineapple leather and tocuyo cotton hand-painted with vegetal dyes. The first, a medium-sized model, features a handle adorned with a cosmic serpent, its surface sparkling with a constellation of black beads, while the second, a mini bag, is embellished with a maze of shimmering silver gems. Also embroidered with a serpentine motif, the bags convey the concept of spiritual healing through the intentional paths traced by the strokes. These remarkable pieces do more than just captivate the eye, they engage the senses, shedding light on the enduring legacy of ancient cultural traditions as they carry a message of respect for the natural world.  Download the episode to learn more about Sara Flores’ universe and the Dior Lady Art experience.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to the eagerly anticipated ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art.Our latest guest, the celebrated Chinese artist Liang Yuanwei, takes the bag’s status as an emblem of artisanal craftsmanship with rich cultural connotations to new heights, interweaving references to her impasto “Golden Notes” series and Ru ware from the Song dynasty. Blending ancient and new techniques, her captivating Lady Dior resembles a porcelain object, with the artist’s textured brushstrokes evoking crackles in the glaze. Layered with symbolism, the bag’s edges in antique gold metal echo traditional gilding techniques, while its color recalls the signature celadon green shade of Ru ware.Its creation required a series of painstaking processes. The artist’s calligraphic brushstrokes, which differ in power and do not overlay the other, were reproduced in resin using a 3D printing process before being broken into pieces, like a puzzle, and then recomposed on a velvet base.Download the episode to learn more about the artist’s fascinating Dior Lady Art journey and how this experimental process, and collaborating with the House’s artisans, has impacted her creative approach.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to the eagerly anticipated ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art.For our latest guest, the American artist Vaughn Spann, collaborating on Dior Lady Art meant a change of scale. Adopting a conceptual approach, the New Jersey-based talent recalibrated details from a selection of his monumental works for three distinctive day-to-night variations of the Lady Dior that capture the signature otherworldly colors, materiality and feel of the original works.Spann’s color-blocked red and black “Flame” Lady Dior has a richly textured, fiery, volcanic feel, while for the “Dalmatian” design, gridded, spotted abstractions offer a graphic twist on the bag’s signature motifs. Meanwhile, for his “Marked Man” Lady Dior, a giant opaque “X” motif floats on a sheer pink plexiglass base topped by a retro briefcase handle, playfully blurring masculine-feminine codes. Embodying a cross-pollination of fashion and art, the contemporary creations are designed to accompany the wearer on different occasions, whether to a gala, a nightclub or on a ski trip, offering the opportunity to live with the artist’s paintings in a more compact and intimate way.Download the episode to learn more about Spann’s universe and Dior Lady Art journey.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

La nouvelle série Dior Talks, présentée par la journaliste parisienne Katya Foreman, met à l'honneur la très attendue neuvième édition de Dior Lady Art. Pour l’occasion, onze artistes de renommée internationale ont été invités à réinterpréter l’emblématique sac Lady Dior et à en faire une œuvre d’art unique.Passionné de nature, tout comme Monsieur Dior, notre invité est l’artiste Duy Anh Nhan Duc, né au Vietnam et installé à Paris. Véritable poète botanique, il crée des installations éthérées en utilisant des mauvaises herbes et des fleurs sauvages, capturant l’essence d’un univers enchanteur. L’artiste récolte ces plantes oubliées autour de son atelier au Pré-Saint-Gervais, celles qui poussent entre les fissures des trottoirs et qui rappellent les jeux de son enfance. Parmi elles, salsifis, chardons, blé, trèfles et akènes de pissenlit qui, lorsqu’on souffle dessus, s’envolent en une myriade de graines. Ces végétaux sont ensuite minutieusement séchés dans son atelier avant d’être intégrés à ses œuvres, dans une exploration fascinante des cycles de la vie et de la fragilité de l’instant présent.Pour Dior Lady Art, l’artiste a transposé sa passion des plantes sauvages sur un Lady Dior immaculé, alliant simplicité organique et élégance virtuose. Une profusion de plantes en relief orne le cuir vegan, rehaussée par des broderies délicates. En lieu et place du cannage emblématique, un treillis métallique finement travaillé symbolise un jardin ouvert à tous. Le sac se pare également de branches dorées en métal précieux et cache un secret : un talisman unique, une graine de pissenlit dorée et préservée à jamais dans une goutte de résine.Découvrez cet épisode pour plonger dans l’univers fascinant de l’art végétal de Duy Anh Nhan Duc.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to the eagerly anticipated ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art.A lover of nature like Monsieur Dior himself, our latest guest is the Vietnam-born, Paris-based artist Duy Anh Nhan Duc, a green-fingered poet who creates ethereal installations composed of common weeds and wildflowers, forming the essence of his enchanting universe. The artist collects them near his studio in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, focusing on the “forgotten plants” that push through the cracks of sidewalks – the type he would play with as a child – from salsifies, thistles and wheat to clover and dandelion puffballs that, when blown, disperse into an explosion of seeds. He then painstakingly dries them in his studio to use in his works, weaving a fascinating dialogue from the cycles of life, focusing on the fragility of the moment.For Dior Lady Art, the artist imprints his passion for wild plants onto a pristine white Lady Dior, fusing organic simplicity with virtuoso elegance. A profusion of plants embossed into vegan leather is enhanced by delicate embroidery, while in lieu of the iconic cannage quilting, a delicate wire trellis is partly exposed, symbolizing a garden that is open to all. Adorned with contrasting golden branches crafted from gilded metal, the bag also contains a hidden surprise: the secret talisman of a gold-embellished dandelion, captured in a drop of resin for all eternity.Download the episode to learn more about Duy Anh Nhan Duc’s remarkable vegetal artistry.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to t ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art.Collaborating with Dior Lady Art for a second consecutive season, artist Jeffrey Gibson, a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and Cherokee descent, returns with a piece inspired by his 2017 punching-bag sculpture “LOVE IS THE DRUG,” themed around the complexities of loving and being loved. An advocate of artisans, materials, pattern and adornment, the New York-based artist – known for his ultra-colorful works that combine traditional Native American craftsmanship with a bold, almost psychedelic aesthetic – also plays with texts and slogans, embracing the power of speech as he celebrates the forgotten and the marginalized. Thus, his latest Lady Dior is fully beaded on one side, with the word “Love” repeated three times in a signature LCD-style font, while the other is loaded with over 70 jangling 3D-printed hearts. “Being a person of color traveling around the world – I’ve lived in London, South Korea, Germany and different states in the United States – I think I’ve really always paid attention to how people dress themselves and adorn themselves,” says the artist. “I’m really interested in different kind of movements, whether it’s feminist movements, LGBTQ movements or Indigenous liberation movements, and the ways that we codify that in how we dress.”Download the episode to learn more about Jeffrey Gibson’s fascinating universe.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The new series of Dior Talks – hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman – is dedicated to the eagerly anticipated ninth edition of Dior Lady Art. Eleven global artists have been invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art. Our latest guest is artist Hayal Pozanti, who explores dreaming as a collective power to create a new reality. The Turkish-born, US-based artist lives in Manchester in rural Vermont, a town surrounded by forest-covered mountains, endless lakes and rivers and waterfalls and greenery. Drawing on the tradition of plein air painting, Pozanti creates preliminary pastel sketches during hikes which she transforms into large-scale landscapes, painting with oil sticks, her fingers, her hands and body. The artist draws upon her experiences of the natural world, her dreams and her intuitions, directing the gaze towards a fictional elsewhere that feels irresistibly real. For Dior Lady Art, Pozanti has created three Lady Dior bags inspired by her art and travels into the heart of the mountains. The first two designs feature details drawn from her passion for trekking: sheepskin inserts reminiscent of the lining of hiking boots, custom carabiners hand-crafted by the Dior Ateliers and feet recalling the star-shaped tips of walking poles. The iconic “D, I, O, R” charms are translated into hieroglyphs conceived by the artist.  Based on a painting Pozanti created on a beach during a full moon, the third model is a clutch painted with a nocturnal panorama and embroidered with comet-like trails of rhinestones; the interior is covered with mirrors, offering a reflection of oneself and the earth. “It's a painting that encompasses all that is magic about our world,” says the artist. Download the episode to learn more about Hayal Pozanti’s fascinating universe.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art. With his 360-degree vision of the art world, as a gallerist and curator, our latest guest, the renowned Chinese contemporary artist Xu Zhen, combines installation, video, painting and performance in a singular, inventive universe that explores subjects ranging from socio-political taboos to consumerism and the principles of the art market. The artist’s fascinating works subvert – not without irony – notions of artisanship and originality (relative to mass production), as well as concepts of ownership and globalization in the digital age. He thwarts and questions their effects on the art market, making visible certain dissonances and the resulting absence of logic. For Dior, the conceptual artist, who has exhibited at a number of prestigious art institutions and biennales internationally, including the Venice Biennale, MoMA PS1 in New York and the Hayward Gallery in London, wanted to reflect on the value and meaning of discourse. Inspired by his “Metal Language” series – and made of transparent plexiglass and mirror-effect printed fabric – his two versions of the Lady Dior are adorned with golden and silver phrases and exclamations applied on a reflective surface to evoke a screen. The words are edged with gold and silver chains, like speech bubbles, serving as symbols of the emptiness of a languagethat no longer has any real functionality.Tune in to the episode to learn more about the artist’s playful and thought-provoking concept behind the bags.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art. In this new episode, we immerse ourselves in the poetic universe of Mircea Cantor, an internationally renowned Romanian artist whose works, suspended between dream and reality, lucidly reflect his commitment to contemporary society. Cantor’s singular vision is embodied in a polymorphous practice that utilizes a variety of media, such as video, animation, sculpture, drawing, photography and performance but also collaborations with artisans for the conception of unprecedented installations, with a view to broadening the field of knowledge through this savoir-faire. Awarded the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2011, his works are presented in prestigious international collections, notably the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.The artist’s protean approach plays out in two Lady Dior creations that feature bewitching optical effects, textures and perspectives. Dressed by turns in black or beige leather, they are adorned with captivating embroidery evoking the beauty of the garden of Eden, filled with flowers of every variety, inspired by a traditional gilet from western Romania. In contrast, the graphic lines of the bag’s cannage motif are highlighted by leather cord, an essential element of embroidery and leatherwork symbolizing connection, transmission and continuity. Completing the designs, the handles bear the words “make heaven out of what you have” – in French, English and Romanian – a true artist’s manifesto, while the charms are reinvented in an elaborate golden version, borrowed from the lexicon of jewelry. As a finishing touch, the inside of each bag contains a hand-designed silk scarf signed by Cantor as well as a logbook annotated by the artist.Tune in to the episode to learn more about the genesis of this exceptional project.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique work of art. In this latest episode, we plunge into the esoteric, cosmic universe of Mariko Mori. Operating in another realm spanning the past, present and future, the internationally acclaimed Japanese artist through her futuristic multidisciplinary works blurs the lines between art and technology, exploring themes including life, death and rebirth, prehistory, the cosmos and spirituality. For Dior Lady Art, Mori used her signature dichroic vacuum deposition and lenticular techniques to take the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a new dimension, harnessing her mastery of light, which she describes as “an inner source for all living things.” Seemingly inhabited by light which shifts as the bag is moved, the first of three bags features an inner landscape inspired by the ālaya, the eighth consciousness in Buddhism. The second – in a small format – celebrates Dior heritage through an emblematic white bow made from an innovative fabric that lights up in an array of select colors in a crafted sequence. The final design with its compact, minaudière dimensions, resembles a rainbow-colored bubble, evoking a space-time capsule on which the "O" of the "D.I.O.R." charms is transformed into a model of the artist’s monumental sculptural installation, “Ring: One With Nature.” As a final surprise, the bags’ interiors are dressed in a unique shade of delicate pink, heightening the bag’s feminine essence.Tune in to the episode to learn more about the artist’s fascinating world.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art. Known for her colorful, lush, light and airy botanical paintings, our latest guest artist, Michaela Yearwood-Dan, much like Monsieur Dior in his time, has a passion for flora and fauna. Through her visually striking abstract works, the multifaceted British artist questions norms and celebrates singularities, recounting the present through a reading of the past.Switching scales, for Dior Lady Art, the London-based artist wanted to immortalize a site-specific curved mural she made in 2022 for a new LGBTQ+ art hub created by Queercircle, London. Titled “Let Me Hold You”, the monumental work, which covered the entire space, symbolized holding the community, creating a sense of sanctuary for visitors. Playing with texture, patterning, fabrics and beading, and incorporating her signature collage technique, the artist transposed parts of the mural onto two unprecedented versions of the Lady Dior handbag. Using Dior savoir-faire of excellence, precious embroideries reproduce theeffects of materials adorning the artist’s paintings, including ceramic pansy petals reinterpreted as metal adornments punctuating one of the exceptional models in a poetic deep blue shade. The emblematic ‘D.I.O.R.’ charms are in turn revisited, sometimes in deep black, sometimes embellished with a leaf. Odes to the beauty of gestures play out in a powerful yet delicate universe imbued with messages of love and acceptance. Tune in to the episode to learn more about the artist’s fascinating world. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique piece of art. Bringing the joyous vibrancy of her work to the Lady Dior universe, LA-based artist Hilary Pecis is known for her color-drenched contemporary still-lifes capturing domestic settings, filled with cats, vases of flowers, stacks of books and other signs of everyday life, with references to art history. Her streetscapes and landscapes are imbued with the special light and visual codes of California.The artist approached the Lady Dior handbag as a three-dimensional canvas surface. Using the virtuoso savoir-faire of the Dior ateliers, she reinterpreted one of her paintings, “Botanical Garden,” depicting a lily pond and reflections from a domed glass ceiling.An ode to the beauty of the plant world so dear to Christian Dior, Pecis’s Lady Dior is festooned with white lotuses and lily pads embroidered with a textured profusion of beads, sequins and rhinestones in all shades of green, as if they were growing off the bag, while the handle has a delightful organic “wobbliness” to it.The velvet-lined creation with its 3D volumes and ornate preciousness also holds personal symbolism, with tributes to her grandmother’s collection of costume jewelry and accessories which she liked to dress up in as a child. “She also had an incredible handbag collection and I wanted to reimagine a Dior bag that would appeal to my six-year-old self and me today, as well as my grandma if she were still alive,” says Pecis. Tune in to the episode to learn more about the artist’s colorful universe and the inspirations behind her Lady Dior bags. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique work of art. “Class at its highest standard” is how our latest guest, Ludovic Nkoth, describes the Lady Dior. The New York-based artist, who was born and raised in Cameroon and moved to the United States at 13, is known for his intimate, vibrant, densely impastoed portraits that explore themes including the Black experience, displacement, the idea of self, power and culture.For Dior Lady Art, Ludovic Nkoth blends references to his “System” series with emblems evoking the history of Cameroon on striking black and white versions of the ‘Lady Dior.’ Like a secret gallery, the bags’ flaps open to reveal a lining bearing a grid of faces, while the iconic cannage quilting is dotted with red and black cowrie shells, which served as currency in pre-colonial Cameroon. Revealing a number of precious details borrowed from jewelry-making savoir-faire, small golden metal masks become charms on these captivating pieces that offer a window into his world.Tune in to the episode to hear all about the stories and symbols behind the artist’s powerful Lady Dior creations.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique work of art. Bridging heritage and reinvention, New York-based Jeffrey Gibson dreams up multicolored works fusing traditional Native American craft techniques with a bold, almost psychedelic Pop aesthetic.Influenced by his peripatetic childhood, the multimedia artist curates a mash-up of aesthetic references, ranging from queer aesthetics to fashion, while exploring the power of the spoken word through phrases that resonate with his world, celebrating the forgotten and the marginalized through the prism of art.Adorned with patterned beadwork, partly inspired by the artist’s iconic punching bag series, and tagged with the phrase “I can do whatever I choose,” the Lady Dior takes on an object sculpturalness. Working with Dior’s petites-mains, Gibson used a mix of glass and beadwork of varying sizes to achieve different textures, offset with fluorescent neoprene and netting, while the handles are covered in rhinestones that give a Sixties vibe.A second small-format version of the iconic bag is embroidered with a face, the artist’s emblem, with a stone for a nose, a 3D-printed shell mouth, and beaded eyes using elements from West Africa. The “D.I.O.R.” charms metamorphose into giant pixels, materializing the link between past and present.An extension of his artistic universe, the Lady Dior in Gibson’s hands transforms into a multicolored totem for exploring the cultural realities of modern life, in a masterful mélange of narratives and references.Tune in to the episode for a deep dive into his universe.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series dedicated to the eighth edition of Dior Lady Art, hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this highly-anticipated edition, 12 artists from around the world were invited to transform the iconic Lady Dior handbag into a unique work of art.In this episode, we enter the universe of London-based Canadian-Korean artist Zadie Xa, a transporting, enigmatic world informed by notions of self and Xa’s experiences within the Korean diaspora. Influences range from folklore, speculative fiction and systems of power to the supernatural, ancient religions and the climate crisis. For her multi-media installations, the artist often incorporates richly patterned garments, mixing streetwear codes with nods to ceremonial wear and ancestral traditions.For Dior Lady Art, Xa dreamed up four bags featuring vibrant geometric patchworks inspired by pojagi, a traditional Korean wrapping cloth, as well as ornate mother-of-pearl applications that pay tribute to the ancient Korean handicraft of najeonchilgi. Rings of mother-of-pearl edged with flames give onto scenes depicting animals often found in her work, such as the fox, the orca and the seagull, here holding a small planet in its beak.  Tune in to the episode to hear more about the artist’s colorful and layered Dior Lady Art creations.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Bienvenue dans la série de podcasts Dior Talks ayant pour thème la septième édition du Dior Lady Art et animée par la journaliste, basée à Paris, Katya Foreman. Pour l'événement de cette année, 11 artistes du monde entier se sont prêtés au jeu de la métamorphose en transformant l'iconique sac à main Lady Dior en une œuvre d'art unique. Pour ce dernier épisode, nous plongeons dans l'univers de Françoise Pétrovitch pour découvrir son parcours d'artiste et les influences de son enfance passée à Chambéry, une ville alpine du sud de la France. "J'ai toujours considéré les beaux-arts comme une sorte de Graal, quelque chose d'extraordinaire. Mais je n'ai pas eu cette formation", explique l'artiste qui, depuis les années 1990, produit l'une des œuvres les plus puissantes de la scène artistique française. Chez Françoise Pétrovitch, tout commence par un dessin, son univers s'étendant également à la céramique, aux lavis d'encre, au verre, à la peinture, à la gravure et à la vidéo. Les sujets abordés vont de la fragilité de la nature et du corps à l'intimité entre les personnes et aux raisons psychologiques qui peuvent nous rapprocher. Pour ce projet, l'artiste a abordé le Lady Dior comme une sculpture, réinterprétant à l'encre le motif de cannage caractéristique du sac, et utilisant l'oiseau, symbole de liberté et de fragilité, comme un accent décoratif ludique, appliqué, par exemple, sur le cuir par une technique de sérigraphie, ou s’envolant sur des breloques pour ajouter un côté ludique et pop.  La couleur se joue dans des diffusions en dégradé, comme des taches d'encre, ainsi que sur des doublures métalliques qui invitent à une réflexion sur l'intimité et l'intériorité. " J'ai essayé de retrouver dans le cuir et l'imprimé la même qualité que celle que j'ai dans mes dessins. Donc ici, nous cherchions vraiment des juxtapositions de couleurs. C'était professionnel et en même temps très poétique, ce que j'adore", explique Pétrovitch.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series themed around the seventh edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this year’s event, 11 artists from around the world have participated in a game of metamorphosis by rendering the iconic Lady Dior handbag as a unique piece of art. In this episode we’ll be hearing from Qatari artist Bouthayna Al Muftah, a multidisciplinary artist whose universe centres on the collective memory of her country and the people who shaped it through oral history, song, poetry and folklore. The artist’s methods range from painting to photography, printmaking, photographic performance series and video as well as typographic work linked to archiving the past. For her reinterpretation of the Lady Dior bag, Al Muftah, an alumna of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar who was tapped to design the Official Poster for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, explored the idea of a conceptual book taking shape. Chiffon is the dominant material, printed with Arabic typography using words from folkloric songs and poetry.  “With my work I always talk about how we carry our memories with us, how we become our memories and how we wear them, as well as how relics carrying those stories can be passed down in families,” says the artist. “Here, the bag is also an object that is being passed down, that holds memories and carries them.” Tune into the episode to learn more about this poetic Dior Lady Art journey from the artist herself.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series themed around the seventh edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this year’s event, 11 artists from around the world have participated in a game of metamorphosis by rendering the iconic Lady Dior handbag as a unique piece of art.   Industrial wastelands, obsolete machines and anthropomorphic forms meet the slow art of tapestry weaving in the world of Paris-based Russian artist Zhenya Machneva, our latest guest. Using black and white drawings the artist embraces her painterly approach to colour as the works come to life on the loom.    A graduate of the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design, Machneva, who specializes in textiles, attributes her fascination with relics of desolate industrial landscapes to a visit to a factory where her grandfather worked for 40 years, where the machines resembled sculptures. Playing on geometric forms inspired by Brutalism, Modernism and Constructivism, this mood carries over to her three architectural Lady Dior bags which she conceived as sculptures, or art objects, positioned on metal structures. Being invited to reinterpret this iconic bag stirred a lot of questions on what it means to be a woman for the artist, with contrasting “soft and gentle” tapestry-inspired accents symbolizing a woman’s lifestyle and load.    “These bags collect in themselves all of my fields of inspiration, from architecture to women’s lives,” says the artist who approached the project as a synthesis of art and design, experimenting with colour and composition to create something new.   Tune into the episode to learn more about her fascinating world. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series themed around the seventh edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this year’s event, 11 artists from around the world have participated in a game of metamorphosis by rendering the iconic Lady Dior handbag as a unique piece of art.   Drawing on his life experience growing up in a mixed-race family, universal representations of the human experience remain central to the work of rising Californian artist Alex Gardner.   “I really wanted to make this generic avatar of a person that is sans identity,” says the artist whose stylized figurative paintings portray androgynous, featureless Black subjects.    Here, the artist chose to reinterpret his work ‘Malleability,’ depicting a hand pressing down on an ambiguous part of another figure.    “I was thinking about how easy it is to manipulate and get in the heads and control the actions of people,” says Gardner. “Fashion, for instance, has a lot of influence on culture, and then for anyone who wears the bag, it’s the influence they may feel they have on the room.”    Maintaining the bag’s silhouette and form, the artist, whose inspirations range from 16th century European art to movies, chose to experiment with materials. The bag’s lining is in a blazing shade of cadmium red and the exterior features a pearlescent, holographic molded leather suggesting draped fabric, while the body parts are in contrasting matte black velvet.    Being approached to participate in Dior Lady Art proved a creative curveball for the artist who is hoping to do more functional objects and three-dimensional work.   Concludes Gardner: “It was actually the perfect timing to face the challenge of making this very cool art object, but also maintaining a lot of functionality because, at the end of the day, I do want people to be able to use it as a bag. So, that push and pull.”   Tune into the episode to learn more about the artist’s fascinating universe.  Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Welcome to the Dior Talks podcast series themed around the seventh edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this year’s event, 11 artists from around the world have participated in a game of metamorphosis by rendering the iconic Lady Dior handbag as a unique piece of art.   Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and based in Brooklyn, New York, our latest guest, Sara Cwynar, is fascinated by the visual politics of popular images, how they infiltrate our consciousness, and how images and objects change in value over time. Themes range from feminism to consumer culture.   The self-taught artist started out working as a graphic designer for the New York Times Magazine, going on to graduate with an MFA in photography from Yale. Drawn to create art, she started out making works in her parents’ garage, creating compositions using sourced images and objects found in drawers or the local dollar store.   Kitsch is a recurring source of inspiration, drawing on everything from costumes worn as a competitive figure skater during her childhood to the theories of Roland Barthes and Milan Kundera, who in his seminal work, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” explores kitsch as something more sinister that takes on existential meaning.   Cwynar’s large red Lady Dior in quilted leather is covered in patches of images sourced from museum archives and art history books, interspersed with stock photos depicting everything from birds to lips, the latter revisited in a 3D print by the Dior team. “I wanted to make a kind of encyclopedic object, a mini history, that someone carries around on their arm,” says the artist.    On a smaller bag in mustard yellow, photo patches are encapsulated in a second transparent skin forming the iconic ‘cannage’ pattern. Inside, the lining is covered in a picture of blue sky and clouds, with this idea that “You enter the bag and then you go into another world.”    Tune into the episode to learn more about her fascinating world.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.