The ninth edition of the Dior Lady Art Project celebrates heritage, culture, and creative ingenuity

It takes symbols and legends to withstand the fickle winds of trends. The Lady Dior bag is one such icon of the past, and a testament to timeless elegance and perpetual renewed daring. Named in honour of Princess Diana, the bag truly embodies quintessential Dior style with its refined architectural design and signature quilted pattern. It fuses the house’s eternal codes with the marvellous plurality of its savoir-faire. Under the futuristic vision of Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of Dior, this object of desire has turned into an expansive canvas of artistic possibilities. Since 2016, the Dior Lady Art Project has transcended the boundaries of innovation and inventiveness by serving as a platform to international artists who revisit the iconic bag to bring their fresh creative interpretations. For its ninth edition, 11 renowned global artists take turns in reimagining the Lady Dior as a fascinating emblem of poetic metamorphosis. Translating their unique perspective, extending the narrative of their works, and echoing their values, every reinterpretation is a veritable challenge requiring prodigious prowess. 

One of the artists, Faith Ringgold, born in Harlem, has challenged perceptions of racial identity and gender inequality for almost seven decades. She is known for her innovative use of textile quilting and storytelling techniques that revolutionised the art world by fusing activism, craft, and fine art traditions. For the Dior Lady Art Project, the legendary artist had collaborated on six exceptional pieces before she passed away in April 2024. Her 1971 political protest posters, Freedom Woman Now and Woman Free Yourself, have been intrepidly reimagined into two Lady Dior bags using a collage of metallic materials, while her artwork, Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing, Papa Can Blow, has been vividly recreated with intricate beaded embroidery. The triangles, which are influenced by central African Kuba designs that make up windows at weddings—Ringgold’s initial foray into completely abstract painting—flourish on one of the bags, entirely sublimated with pearls, as well on the handles and charms of another one. Based on Tar Beach—the artist’s acclaimed story quilt and children’s book—the Lady Dior is draped in a deep midnight blue, embellished with the symbolic outline of the George Washington bridge. Inside the handles of the bag, Ringgold’s empowering quote reads, “anyone can fly, all you gotta do is try”.

Another collaborator of the art project, multi-disciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson is known for his hybrid visual language that relies heavily on bold, almost psychedelic aesthetic. He combines paintings, sculptures, engravings, texts, videos from American, indigenous, and queer histories with popular culture, literature, and modern aesthetics. His creations are an invitation to (re)read everyday life and society through the prisms of art, culture, and critical theory. Elaborating on his creative process, Gibson adds, “I am a process-based artist and start with a general idea of what I would like to make. 

Everything begins with a material experimentation and then one step leads me to the next until the artwork is completed. I work with a lot of text, some borrowed and some that I author. The text is often beaded or it can be 
written and printed onto different textiles. A finished body of work must speak to each other and visually work 
together in the way that it is installed.”

Gibson extends his unique universe to reimagine the Lady Dior bag in a resolutely pop metamorphosis inspired 
by his iconic punching bags. It is adorned with more than 70 unique heart-shaped punctuations that have been 
digitally printed. Each one has been sewn onto the bag so that they cluster and fill the surface of it. The remaining three sides have been hand-beaded using a pattern that Gibson created in 2017 for a sculpture. 

The beads had to be re-scaled so that the pattern works on the size of the bag and the colours were matched according to his design. The charms of the bag have also been coloured to match the beadwork and the different leathers that have been used. “I decided to base my design off of a punching bag sculpture that I made in 2017, titled ‘Love is The Drug’. The name comes from a song sung by Grace Jones of the same title, and the punching bag is covered with heart charms made in different materials. Similarly, my interpretation of the Lady Dior bag is covered in heart charms on one side and fully beaded on the other with the word ‘love’ repeated. I also played with colours for leather and Dior’s metallic hardware. It is beautifully crafted, which is important to me and truly reflective of my creative practice,” he elaborates.

According to the artist, art in galleries and museums can often be intimidating for people. But, the worlds of fashion and popular culture can draw in people, who may not otherwise visit these art exhibitions. “I am also a fan of and have been influenced by the history of fashion, music, and design. Blending these universes makes the possibility of creating a Lady Dior bag particularly exciting. I often return to themes of love in my practice. My relationships complicate and deepen what I believe love looks like, and continue to reveal how complex and layered the notion of love is. It is often hard-won and requires a lot of work from all involved. It can be both selfish and selfless to love and to be loved.” Gibson’s interpretation of the bag is a tender declaration of love and joy for oneself and for all those we cherish. Additionally, Sara Flores, Woo Kukwon, Danielle Mckinney, Duy Anh Nhan Duc, Hayal Pozanti, Vaughn Spann, Anna Weyant, Liang Yuanwei, and Huang Yuxing have lend their unique creative expressions toward the singular goal of expanding Lady Dior’s heritage into a confluence of cultures.

This piece originally appeared in the October-November print issue of Harper's Bazaar India