Lady Dior is the ever-evolving bag that exemplifies the Parisian fashion house’s commitment to craftsmanship and elegance. For this fourth edition, a medley of internationally-renowned artists have brought their personal and nostalgic experiences to breathe ingenuity into Lady Dior’s design. From the gothic nature of Kohei Nawa’s black and red crystallized droplets to the magnetism of South African textile curiosity in Athi-Patra Ruga’s presentation, each concept is profoundly different from the next, but connective tissues acknowledge the beauty in coexistence. Flaunt chatted with Lady Dior collaborators Rina Banerjee, Marguerite Humeau, Jia Lee, Kohei Nawa, Athi-Patra Ruga, and Mickalene Thomas.
**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition bag in collaboration with Rina Banerjee in smooth cream calfskin and transparent nylon embroidered with glass beads, moon beads, shells, feathers and hand- embroidered leaves. Textured resin handles and charms. Hardware in distressed gold-colored metal.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**RINA BANERJEE**
_Rina Banerjee is a New York City-based sculptor represented by Hosfelt Gallery. In 2017, her work was on display at the Venice Biennale, and in 2019 a solo show,_ Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World_, exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the San Jose Museum of Art._
**How do you feel your multi-textural layering technique translates to the Lady Dior?**
My studio practice has been deeply immersed in understand- ing how the “conversation” emphasizing mixture, variety, and fluid differences can be transposed into a visual language and a contemporary aesthetic. The act of securing a pure and singular, minimal vision is not nature’s will. The “cleaning up” and resulting exclusion of variety is in fact rooted in a colonial and mercantile desire for hierarchy. The provocations we deem vital to peace for all people on a shared Earth surrender to a multilayered, dense horizon. Textures and abundance, the excess that is a signature in my sculptures, suggest my position on the matter. We are young on an evolutionary scale and as a human family we need to embrace a wider spirit and a valuable biodiversity.
Photographed by Harry Eelman.
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**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition bag in collaboration with Marguerite Humeau reinterpreted with 3D printing technique. Organic compound handle. Hardware in silver-colored metal with satin nish.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**MARGUERITE HUMEAU**
_London-based artist Marguerite Humeau works at the intersection of art, technology and science, recently showing_ ECSTASIES at _Kunstv- erein Hamburg this past March and the_ Oscillations _exhibition at Museion Bolzano in October. Humeau is represented by Clearing Gallery._
**Do you see this collaborative effort more as a fashion object or architecture?**
I see it as sculpture! When I started working with the Dior team, I thought I should treat this bag conceptually and physically the same way I usually develop my work. I used similar processes: hand drawing, then 3D modeling. The Dior team conducted extensive research to develop a material that would be ambiguous and would convey the idea of immateriality, which is present in a lot of my work, while still being a wearable material. Perception of the material seems to shift: sometimes it looks like draped fabric, sometimes like a translucent stone, and sometimes like some kind of skin.
Photographed by Valentin Hennequin.
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**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition bag in collaboration with Kohei Nawa in printed metallized leather, decorated with PVC patterns bonded at high frequency and lled with red gel. Hardware in metal with Ultra Black nish.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**KOHEI NAWA**
_Kohei Nawa straddles digital culture and analog sculpture, based in his hometown of Kyoto, Japan. Represented by Pace Gallery, Nawa participated in Reborn-Art Festival’s 2019 edition and exhibited an installation,_ Foam_, at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa this past spring through summer._
**Your work literally changes its integrity depending on the weather and lighting: do you see this radical change as a dialogue of nature or technology?**
It doesn’t change its integrity so much—but it is indeed alive. It reacts to its environment, to the light. This is possible as technology spreads to craft and nature. Somehow, it’s organic.
Photographed by Go Itami
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**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition mini bag in collaboration with Athi-Patra Ruga in blue lambskin embroidered with pearls, glitter, crystals, embroidery piping, and inlays of quilted and satin leather in di erent colors. Hardware in yellow- gold-colored metal with a hammered nish.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**ATHI-PATRA RUGA**
_Hailing from South Africa, Athi-Patra Ruga confronts mythology and utopia/dystopia, evident in his multiple shows and performances at Art/Afrique Louis Vuitton Foundation, “Over the Rainbow” at Performa 17 in New York,_ Public Intimacy _at SFMOMA, and countless others. Ruga is represented by WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery._
**What is the significance in choosing pearls as the makeup of your face?**
My decision to use pearls nods to a motif in my sculptures, a practice that began in 2013 and was born of my desire to explore a more random way of delivering high craftsmanship that’s more playful or instinctive. I translated the clash between opulence and a haphazard approach on the Lady Dior Art bags. It’s evident both in the visage bag, which bears my face, and the _Junon_ bag, which is inspired by the _Junon_ dress. Both of them feature intricate beading and appliqué.
Photographed by Emma Ledoyen.
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**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition bag in collaboration with Mickalene Thomas in printed calfskin embroidered with a colorful patchwork of pearls, crystals, Plexiglass pieces, hand-painted patterns and patent leather. Handles set with Swarovski crystals in gradient colors, charms in iridescent metal.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**MICKALENE THOMAS**
_Mickalene Thomas’s work spans photography, collage, painting and sculpture, installed and lauded in spaces like The Dayton Art Institute from 2018, Henry Art Gallery Seattle in 2018, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2016, and in 2016 at Aperture Foundation in New York, where Thomas lives and works. She is represented by Lehmann Maupin._
**What was the process in choosing the various techniques you’ve deployed?**
Immediately I knew that I wanted my second Lady Dior bag to integrate elements from a landscape. Being that Christian Dior is a Parisian fashion house, I decided to connect it to my love of Monet’s garden and how it inspires me. I spent three months at a residency in Giverny with the Versailles Foundation, Giverny Inc., and the Claude Monet Foundation. The experience was life-changing. The landscape I created based on that experience is layered and impressively complex with its juxtaposition of materials. So naturally I wanted to transform elements from my painting into new materials I haven’t used, like embroidery, beading, and relief. Using a landscape as the starting point for interrogation and deconstruction, it allows for an intuitive abstraction. By using paint and collage elements, the techniques used blur the lines of artifice with various materials for an ambiguity of perception.
Photographed by Fumi Nagasaka.
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**DIOR** “Lady Dior” Art Limited Edition bag in collaboration with Jia Lee in cream calfskin printed with a Dior pattern and owers, embroidered with organza and glass beads. Hardware in distressed silver-colored metal.
Photo by Ryan Jenq.
**JIA LEE**
_Hailing from Seoul and represented by the Korean gallery, 313, Jia Lee tackles East and West schools of painterly gestures, evident in her recent exhibitions at Art Paris 2019 and Art Miami 2018._
**How do you feel your impressionistic gestures inform modern world with regard to the past?** Through my paintings, I capture somewhat ordinary moments: people walking on the street, resting in parks, and falling asleep on public transport. The impressionistic gestures or marks in my work come from the way I look at my surroundings. I observe and collect ordinary images in my own language of drawing, and some go on to become part of my paintings. My paintings are often still and quiet. I capture the moments I see in people. Some drawings are done in a couple of minutes, but some I have to finish in just a couple seconds. In order for me to capture these moments, I truly have to look and observe, not just with my eyes, but also using all my senses. Living in the modern world, it is so easy to forget the value of the small things in life. Through my work, I want to remind people to look for these simple moments.
Photographed by Kim Yoon Woo.
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